this was done for Challenge #34 on the forum Bellatrix Lestrange: The Dark Lord's Most Faithful. this is my first time participating in a challenge so i hope it works. on word this was 1300 words flat. :)

the challenge prompt is as follows: Traditions: We all know about the traditions that J.K's told us about – like giving a wizard a watch on his seventeenth birthday, but there must be hundreds more, right? And what about the Muggleborns? Wouldn't they bring Muggle traditions to Hogwarts. The challenge for this fortnight is to write a story of more or less a multiple of 1oo words involving one or more characters and a tradition. Enjoy!

JKR owns these characters. enjoy!

"Droma, we need to hold a ineetion ceremony." Narcissa told her sister one afternoon. Droma looked up from the book she was reading to raise an eyebrow at her younger sister, who was peering up at her with an expression that clearly indicated she was expected see the importance to this statement and act accordingly.

"What's that, Cissy?"

"We need," Cissy rolled her eyes, "to do a ineetion ceremony. For Lauretta." She indicated to the small figure perched safely in the center of the sofa. With tiny red lips, auburn curls, and long dark lashes that fluttered as the lids closed over emerald eyes, she really was quite stunning.

"You mean an initiation ceremony." Droma corrected casually. Cissy nodded.

"She wants to become a lady of the court."

Droma cast a glance towards the girl sprawled out on her stomach on the floor. She was hunched over a brand-new copy of A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration, eyes drinking up the words greedily. Every so often she would shift in order to push a black curl back in place behind her ear but her eyes never once stopped in their furious scanning of the page. Droma hesitated but, clutching her book tighter, firmly shook her head no.

"Not today, Cissy."

This was obviously not the response the little girl had expected.

"But we have to! Droma, we have to do it today! Uncle Alphard brought her for me last night so today is her first day here."

"So?"

"Soooo we got to do the ceremony today!"

Droma huffed with impatience.

"Cissy, I'm busy!" Shuffling around, Droma settled into a comfortable position that gave her back to her pestering littler sister, book tucked comfortably between the back of the armchair and her chest and legs dangling over an arm.

Truth be told, she kind of wanted to do the initiation ceremony with Cissy. Ceremonies were always fun, and she had never missed one before. But the nagging voice in her head told her that participating would be childish, and she did not want to appear childish.

Cissy scowled at Droma's mass of brown curls.

"Why are you so boring?"

"Why are you such a baby?" Droma snapped.

"I'm not a baby." Cissy retorted, offended.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!" She stamped her foot angrily.

"Cissy, don't whine." Bella spoke up from her place on the floor. She sounded bored. "It's not becoming."

Droma grinned at Bella's imitation of their mother but Cissy just scowled darkly and grumbled "You're not Mother" under her breath.

The play room lapsed back into silence as the older sisters returned to their books. Cissy stood there gazing from one sister to the other, her long hair swinging wildly behind her. In one last attempt to regain Droma's attention, Cissy tugged at the nook of her elbow but the older girl just shook away the fingers, curling tighter still around her book. Normally, Droma was easy to convince. But ever since Bella had gotten her letter from Hogwart5s and she had turned ten, she had gotten these strange ideas that she was so grown up and "mature". Cissy didn't know what "mature" meant but she did not like it one bit. She liked it better when Droma was not mature and did not mind playing with her.

This left only one other option. Cissy turned her head to observe her oldest sister by Droma's chair. Bella was never as easy to convince as Droma; sometimes she was nice and sometimes she was mean but it all depended on how she woke up, really. Most of the time, she only ever wanted to play with Droma. Still, she hadn't made fun of her or called her a baby yet. Maybe she was in a good mood today. And maybe, just maybe, if Bella said yes than Droma would say yes, too.

"Bella! Bella, Bella, Bella," Cissy sang, skipping over to her sister and plopping down beside her. Bella smiled but did not remove her eyes from her textbook. Curious, Cissy craned her neck to glimpse at the book from over Bella's shoulder; the pages were stuffed with black words in tiny font, and there were hardly any pictures. Cissy wrinkled her nose. There were definitely better things to do on a summer day than read a boring old book.

She lifted a hand to stroke Bella's black hair, careful not to snag her fingers in the tight curls, humming softly. Bella sighed quietly with contentment and, though she made Cissy wait until she finished the paragraph she was on, she finally turned to the girl sitting cross-legged next to her.

"What is it, Cissy?" She asked patiently and not at all unkindly. Taking a deep breath, Cissy launched into an explanation on how she needed them to perform an initiation ceremony with her for Lauretta. This time, she noted with pride, she got the word right. When she finished, she waited expectantly for Bella's answer.

"Can't you do it by yourself?"

Cissy's face fell.

"No, you know I can't. It needs to be all three of us. Please Bella. It's tradition. You can't break tradition." Cissy pouted.

Droma sneaked a peek at Bella from over her shoulder, wondering if she would give in to their baby sister's pleas. A part of her hoped she would yield. This would be the last time they could do this before she went away to Hogwarts.

"Pretty please, Bella?"

"With a chocolate-covered cherry on top?" Bell asked, smirking. Her tone was teasing but Cissy nodded solemnly. Then, with a loud and exaggerated sigh, Bella closed her book and placed it on the table by the window.

"Alright, Droma, let's go. We have a ceremony to conduct."

Cissy squealed with delight, grabbing Lauretta by the hand and bouncing out of the room. Droma shot her sister a 'if I must' expression and trailed after the other two. It would not do to look too eager. Still, when Bella threw her a grin, she couldn't help but return it.

Outside, the large backyard transformed into the interior of a magnificent palace. Narcissa bowed her head against the familiar weight of the jeweled tiara. She was high princess of Narbeland, a beloved and just ruler who brought peace to the land. Not far behind was Bellatrix, warrior princess of the Vast Forest, idolized by her people for slaying a mighty dragon and ridding the Forest of the Boogy Man's army, brandishing her victorious sword proudly. Andromeda, first class enchantress and princess of the Kristal Sea, paused to accept a token of gratitude from the sand folk, whom she had saved from a terrible plague. She was dressed in robes of billowing gold, a symbol of the great deeds she had done for her people.

It would take all three princesses to secure Lauretta a seat within court. As the ceremony began, the subjects of Narbeland began to prance and whoop and clap, applauding the return of their rulers and the new member.

Druella watched her daughters play from the drawing room window. She frowned slightly upon seeing the twigs and leaves in Narcissa's hair and the heavy branch Bellatrix was carrying but disregarded it. Let them have their fun; it would give her several minutes of much desired peace.

Narcissa hugged her doll close, frolicking with her older sisters as they acted out some implausible scene of the imagination. They shouted and twirled and curtsied to invisible partners. At eleven and ten, respectively, Bellatrix and Andromeda were far too old for childish games. Narcissa, however, was still at a young age to enjoy the adventures of the creative mind. Turning away from the window, Druella smiled to herself, glad that her three daughters were enjoying this old game of pretend.

i took the idea from something my sister and i used to do. we would always introduce our new stuffed animals to the rest of the crew in this very elaborate, structured way. :) review please!