Walburga Black, Pensieve Memory, Summer 1975

[bellicism]

Name: Walburga Black
Format: Pensieve Memory
Date: Summer 1975
Relevance: Walburga's worst memory.

Comments

[viridigitus]

A pity, but the right thing to do in the end. One needs to cut off the diseased parts before the infection spreads.

[bellicism]

You need not tell these things to me, I alone am strong enough to do what is needed. My brother's name went next, then my niece's.

[viridigitus]

Of course. It's the duty of the head of the family to do these things and you fulfill that role perfectly.

It can be a hard thing though, casting out those who were at one time so close.

[bellicism]

I burnt his name off quickly, before wound could fester, like cauterising it. And then he was gone, and all was calm again.

You know, then?

[viridigitus]

*nods*
The best way, a slow removal only prolongs what pain there might be.

I do. My sister made a disgrace of herself and point blank refused to even try to make any amends of it. Alexander was quite right in his actions - we weren't about to have any half-breed bastard bearing our name.

[bellicism]

*grimaces, shaking her head* I would have taken the thing and drowned it like a kitten.

[viridigitus]

She'd have only done it again, to spite us. It was better to cut off that line entirely - she was already ruined for any decent marriage. Let her keep her brat to give her comfort when she was living with the vermin that she so loved.

[bellicism]

*twisted smile* Spite is a powerful motivator.

*studies her closely as if for the first time* You're a good girl, Dahlia. You're a good friend to Bella, so she says.

[viridigitus]

*sighs*
Unfortunately so, in some cases.

*bows her head a small amount*
Thank you, Madam Black. I do try my best now there's so few of us left.

I'm glad she considers me so; Bellatrix's friendship is very dear to me.

[bellicism]

*ugly laugh* And fortunately so in others. Treats can be sour as well as sweet.

We must of think of it as consolidation. We don't need so many, not really, not to last. There's a line, isn't there, below which we shouldn't drop? You will know. But the line is low, I think.

Were you at school together? She wrote me letters, but she's so fond of words that they all slid together.

[viridigitus]

Yes, but it's knowing when to give them and to take them that's important. Alas that most don't know either.

There is and it is. We're not quite there yet but it is worryingly close for some. My father's line was all single children for a long while barring Lysandra who married into your family and my mother turned out to be the last of her's even though she wasn't the youngest of them. Hopefully my brother will change that though with his two children.

*nods*
We were, although she was in a lower year. We talked often in my later years there, when Lucius was courting Narcissa, and kept up the contact when I left. I'm very glad I did so.

[bellicism]

There are so many lasts. In the nursery at Grimmauld Place there's a rhyme painted on the wall about not being the last. My mother used to sing it to me, but my voice isn't like hers. *shows her small teeth in a grin* Not meant for singing, unless it's birdsong, and then a jackdaw.

*chuckles low in her throat* She doesn't come visiting as often as she might. All of you so busy these days.

[viridigitus]

*smiles rather sadly*
I don't think I'd notice much - my mother used to sing to us in German and it's hardly a soft language. She used to tell us everything she could about her family and everything they did so that they'd not be forgotten when she went.

We are. There's just so much to do though, and so little time to achieve it in. However, the results will be worth it when all is said and done.

[bellicism]

*strokes a strand of Dahlia's hair between her thumb and forefinger* But there is you. It's not altogether gone, if you carry her blood and remember her voice.

*sniffs* It's an age of things dying. *drops her hair and winks* I hope you're all trying hard.

[viridigitus]

*doesn't move with the touch*
There is me, and Alexander as 'neutral' and ashamed of his past as he is, and his children who know of the great things she achieved and show more promise than my brother in these things.

*sighs*
As best as humanly possible. It can be hard when you're outnumbered so though.