A.N. Well CST's and AP Testing is done. Boy, that sure was "fun"...

These events occur in no particular order.

BTW in this, Draco is older than Harry. I don't care if this is true or not. Deal.

Narcissa peeked around the doorframe to look once more on the sleeping infant inside the room. Draco's so-blonde-it-was-almost-white hair shown on the crown of his head as he took snuffling breaths and dreamed.

He was so beautiful and amazing that this moment seemed perfect, and Narcissa felt she couldn't ask for anything more.

But.

But Lucius could not be here to be part of this moment. The Dark Lord had requested his presence this night. And Narcissa could only guess how many more nights such as these would follow, nights when Lucius would be wrenched from her unwilling arms, nights when Draco would have to follow...

The elation that Narcissa felt as she gazed upon her newborn son twisted into something much darker. The lack of her husband's presence made the giant manor seem sinister.

The cold fear Narcissa had for her family and future made her insides turn black with despair.

Andromeda had taken to abandoning the Slytherin common room in lieu of studying and completing her work in the library. There were less distractions there, less people that she had to try to impress...

After a furtive glance around the area she was working at, Andromeda pulled her hair from its restricting pins and ties, letting it loosely cascade down her shoulders. She smiled almost giddily as she propped her shoeless feet on the chair across from her. Such freedom was available her in this quiet corner of the desolate library.

"Andromeda?"

Andromeda was just barely able to smother the shriek of surprise that threatened to escape her. So fast she nearly cricked her neck, she spun in her chair to see who had caught her in such a state of disarray and homeliness.

"Tonks! You gave me a fright!"

Ted Tonks shuffled awkwardly, glancing downward. "Sorry about that," he muttered while chaffing his neck with his left hand.

Andromeda frantically began pinning her hair back up while staring at her Hufflepuff Charms partner she had been unwillingly paired with. "Is there something you need?" she asked, her tone cool, as her fingers continued in their quest to make her appearance presentable.

Tonks cleared his throat, worry clearly evident in his expression. "Well, um, I was just wondering...if maybe...well, maybe if you'd like to...um... go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend? I mean, the Three Broomsticks is having this holiday special, where you get two Butterbeers for the price of one, and I thought it would be kind of fun to go and-" Tonks babbled, looking everywhere and anywhere but at Andromeda. She stilled in her attempts of fixing her disheveled hair and gawped at Ted. Was he really asking her out? Was he oblivious to the consequences that would await both of them should they follow through with such an action?

Andromeda could suddenly imagine how it would play out. Ted would be an absolute gentleman while simultaneously making her smile so much her cheeks would be sore, just like he did while they were in Flitwick's class. Andromeda would have fun in Hogsmeade and look forward to a repeat, just like she eagerly awaited each Charms class so he could make her laugh once more, something that was becoming increasingly more difficult to do...

"Ted," she cut him off, silencing him with the use of his first name, something that had never happened before. "I...can't. I thought...you would know that."

Something hardened momentarily in Ted's (beautiful) hazel eyes as he finally looked at her. Then, it was gone as quick as it had come. His shoulders slumped and he once more returned his gaze to the wood grain of the table in front of him.

"I...understand. Sorry to bother you."

Andromeda watched as he started to leave, a tightness settling on her chest. Her mouth opened, but the call for him to come back died in her throat. Before he was out of earshot, however, he turned back on his own accord.

"You know," he whispered so quietly that she had to strain to catch it, "you look beautiful with your hair down. You should wear it like that more often." With that, he retreated from the library as Andromeda felt that terrible tightness constrict, choking her heart and turning it black.

Regulus felt his heart pound harder than it ever had before, as if it was aware that its beats were numbered. In these last moments of his life, his heart felt the need to pump as much as it possibly could, to remind him that it should not be silenced.

Something more than blood seemed to be spreading through his veins as he slowly pulled the heavy locket out of his pocket. He bent to Kreacher's eye level, offering him the locket.

"Kreacher, I need you to do something for me. Take this locket. When the basin is empty, switch the lockets, and then go home. Do not try to save me. Do you understand?" The continual pounding of his heart broke the façade of calmness that his voice strived to create.

The elf's eyes were wide with fear and confusion, but he nodded and accepted the locket, albeit with some trepidation. Regulus took a deep breath and continued. "Kreacher, you can never tell my mother-" and here his voice broke, but within a moment had regained control, "what happened. Finally, you must destroy the locket that you will swap this one for. Am I understood?"

Kreacher nodded once more, his great orbs bright against the harsh darknesses of the cave in which they stood. Regulus inhaled deeply. A shudder wracked his body even as he tried to quell his terror.

He drank the potion, and the overwhelming need for water overcame him. The terrible corpses grabbed at him, dragging him from safety into the dark, but not before he was able to see Kreacher disappear, a twinkling locket grasped tightly in his hands...

In the end, Regulus received death with open arms. It was an end to the pain that coursed through his body, an end to the regrets that had for so long caused more pain than any potion ever could.

The blackness of the end was welcome.

Bellatrix stared at the cooling bodies that lay on the blood-spattered floor. The woman's eyes were glassy and transfixed, looking but no longer seeing. Next to the woman lay her young daughter whose dreams of becoming a princess had been stolen by that green light along with her life.

These people were nameless. They were Muggle. They were filth.

They were dead.

Bellatrix cackled humorously as she exited the house, several of the Dark Lord's followers trailing behind her. How easy it was to eradicate the lesser from this world. Only a handful of words were needed, and human kind took one more step to becoming better, purer.

The stars and moon were eerily absent that night, and Bellatrix couldn't help but bask in the consuming darkness as she meandered down the dirt pathway from the tiny cottage. The blackness filled her with a sense of power. She felt as alive as the small family in that tiny cottage were dead. This black night made Bellatrix feel unstoppable.

Sirius sat on the grass in front of the lake, staring up at the stars that graced the night sky. In his lap lay two letters, both read so many times that a crease had grown in the middle and had begun to rub away some of the words.

James had offered to accompany Sirius when Sirius stated he was going for a walk, but Sirius had declined. Remus and Peter had been shocked that Sirius did not want the company of his brother in all but blood, but somehow James had understood that he needed this time alone. Not a word was exchanged between the two fifth years as James handed his best friend the map and cloak, and yet everything was said.

Sirius sighed heavily, and glanced down at the letters once more. There was no adequate light for him to read by, but he had read the two letter so many times he could repeat them by heart. One a letter from his mother; the other, a brief message from his favorite cousin Andromeda.

The first was an order. The one time his mother sends him a letter, it's an order. She demanded he make an acquaintance with the students of his year in Slytherin, before it was too late. After all, he was a Black and a pureblood, and tradition must be upheld.

The other letter was not written on embellished parchment and accompanied with a wax seal. Instead, it was scrawled in messy handwriting on cheap paper. Andromeda inquired about Sirius's classes and friends, and described baby Nymphadora's obsession with changing her hair color. Her closing paragraph read:

Sirius, please know that I'm here for you. You need not be forced to conforming to a family that you don't desire too.

You have the choice.

Love always,

Andromeda

A small baby handprint in yellow finger paint accompanied the closing salutation.

A small smile graced Sirius's handsome features. With delicate care, Sirius folded the second letter and gently returned it to his pocket. The other letter was unceremoniously crumpled and dumped into the sand by the edge of the lake. With one small utterance, the expensive parchment burst into flames.

Sirius began his stroll back to the castle, leaving the letter to burn itself out. The flames of hope began to burn away the black in his soul.

A.N. Well, sure, I didn't get any homework done tonight, but inspiration struck, and writing a story is WAY more fun than writing a spanish ensayo.

Am I right or am I right?