November 1981

[rosie_rues]

I've been doing a lot of preliminary work for a fic set late 1981/early 1982, and an odd thought occurred to me.

Why did the Lestranges go after the Longbottoms when they did? Why then? Why Frank and Alice?

I found myself wondering if it had anything to do with Sirius' apparent return to the fold. I have no doubt that Bellatrix and Sirius, both being wild, were close as children, a closeness which would have easily become hatred as Sirius turned away from the family. So, we come to late 1981. The Dark Lord is dead, and so are many of the Order, Bellatrix's immediate counterparts. Sirius is once again her favourite cousin, but he's already in Azkaban, brought down at what Bellatrix might consider his moment of glory.

It's easy to see why Bellatrix might want revenge, not just for Voldemort, but for Sirius. But why the Longbottoms?

We know Frank and Alice were highly respected aurors. We also know that Sirius was taken from the scene by Magical Law Enforcement (which seems to be mostly aurors - it isn't clear from book to book). As non-suspect members of the Order, they would probably have been on alert, especially once they ceased to be Voldemort's secondary target.

Did Frank and Alice arrest Sirius?

Comments

[rufus.livejournal.com]

mm. hmm. interesting. yes. I'll buy that for a dollar.

though I tend to think Sirius and Bellatrix loathed each other from the first moment they laid eyes on each other. But that's just me. I base this on the idea that he claims Andromeda as his favorite; I think she must have had a wild streak, too, what with running off with Ted and all, and I have a feeling Bella's tendency to casual cruelty outweighed any fellow feeling her rebeliousness might have generated. I can, in fact, see Andromeda holding Bella off of Sirius much as he would have defended Regulus, when the time came.

That said, I can also believe Bella would avenge him, if she thought he'd switched sides.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

I tend to think that, as children, they would have swung between hair-pulling hatred and ganging up against the rest. Regulus and Narcissa both seem to be fairly passive people, albeit with a tendency to finally explode, and I think both Sirius and Bella would have lost patience with them. I do think Sirius has a cruel streak of his own, though it's mellowed by his friends. Andromeda, though, stands by him when the rest turn away.

The Blacks do seem to have a very warped sense of family loyalty, and I think Bella would have been elated to have Sirius back, however much they'd loathed each other in the intervening years.