Heaven ϟ MARAUDER ERA ϟ

PROLOGUE

NARCISSA Black wished to be anywhere but here. At first, the idea of spending the summer with her cousin seemed appealing. At least that was before she remembered how much her cousins could be so immature.

"Come on Cissy, it was just a joke!" The black-haired child laughed in her older cousin's ear. As much as she admired the twelve year old blonde, Lyrabelle never understood how she could be so dull. 

"Well it wasn't a very good joke, now was it!" Narcissa scolded the younger girl as she turned around to wash her porcelain face. If it weren't for the reflection on the clear bathroom sink, she would not have noticed the face the little girl pulled behind her back.

Lyra watched her cousin fixing herself up in the mirror curiously. She never understood why the blonde seemed to always be so worried about her appearance, even at such a young age. Narcissa had always been what they called a natural beauty. She never needed the makeup and face products she would wear. Really, it was a waste of time for Narcissa to put all of that stuff on her face every day, as her skin was of perfect complexion and she was as young as twelve years of age.

"Cissy?" The younger Black hesitantly called for the other girl. She heard the annoyed hum that signaled her to voice aloud the question she was dying to ask for so long. Lyrabelle took a deep, thoughtful breath before the words fell out of her mouth.

"Why do girls have to date boys?"

Narcissa let out another of her obnoxious laugh as she turned around to stare at her younger cousin. 

"Now what kind of random question is that?" The blonde mocked, making the seven years old frown. "They just do, it's in our nature. We all one day want to fall in love and get married with a handsome, wealthy man. It's every girl's fantasy, after all."

Lyrabelle shook her head from side to side, her usual small smile turning upside down. "I don't understand why." She announced, making the older girl raise an eyebrow.

"I mean, what if I want to marry a girl instead?" She wondered aloud dreamily. Narcissa dropped in shock the makeup brush she was holding onto. She glared at the young girl gravely before she approached her cousin. She knelt down so that she could be at the grey-eyed child's level. Her expression softened as she looked into Lyra's fearful gaze.

"You can't go around asking stuff like that, not if you want to be apart of this family." Narcissa's voice was lowered down to a mere whisper, careful that her aunt Walburga did not take notice of this peculiar conversation. "Listen to me Lyra, you have to promise that this is the last time you will speak of this with anyone!"

"B-but... I don't understand Cissa-" Lyrabelle tried to reason with the older girl, tears threatening to escape her silvery eyes. Why would a simple question trigger such a reaction from the girl. Why was the idea of two girls falling in love so different that the idea of a boy and a girl doing the same?

"Stop arguing, Lyrabelle! It is absurd that you would even think of something like that at such a young age." The beautiful blonde had slightly raised her voice as she reprimanded her cousin. The sight of a single tear running down the child's face made her chest tighten with guilt but she stood her ground. "I'm telling you this for your own good okay? This kind of thoughts will only land you in trouble, do you understand?"

Lyra unwillingly nodded, still confused about why her question backfired on her so fast. Narcissa seemed to significantly calm down when she received her cousin's recognition. She continued to stare at the humiliated girl for a while before she picked up her makeup brush from the ground and turned towards her reflection in the mirror.

"Promise me you won't ever bring this up with anyone ever again."

The usually confident and joyous voice of Lyrabelle Black was replaced with a weak, distressed murmur as she said the words that she would regret for a lifetime.

"I promise."