𐙚 The Black Cousins Rant 𐙚
the marauders fandom is very well known for constantly changing/making up new ships, friendships and dynamics.
However I very consistently see the same pairings with little to no variation when it comes to the black cousins, its always Andy and Sirius are close as the black sheep and traitors of their families, and Narcissa and Reg are close as the quieter ones and the youngest (usually Bella and Reg were close growing up as she babies but grew apart slightly as he got older.)
And let me preface this by saying that I have nothing against these pairings, I feel like they're so well written in so many fics but I personally have had an idea in my head for ages about alternative pairings.
Okay so i know we don't like canon but bare with me here because lets be real the marauders fandom consistently cherry picks which parts of canon they like and include whilst saying "canon isn't a part of the fandom" (spoiler alert it is, but that's a rant for another day)
Bellatrix was born in 1951
Narcissa was born in 1955
Andromeda was born somewhere in between with no canon birth year but is usually said to be 1953 in povs and fics
Sirius was born in 1960
Regulus was born in 1961/2
Although in some fics that aren't set in the wizarding world the birth years are different the age gap between the 5 stays relatively the same
Narcissa and Sirius have the smallest age gap in terms of cousins and I think this would make them quite close, I also love the hc that Narcissa's perfect daughter persona is just that, a persona, and that she as a person is quite rebellious. I think her and Sirius were extremely close growing up and Narcissa was a (semi) bad influence. I will say I didn't come up with this on my own entirely my hc about them being close stems from 'crimson rivers' specifically the scene during the victory tour where they smoke outside together and when Sirius says he didn't realise she smoked anymore (or something like that i can't remember the exact dialogue) andshe references that she was the one who gave him his first cigarette.
I also think that with regulus being the youngest Bellatrix/Andromeda baby and mother him or they are in charge when they babysit him and Regulus. The Bellatrix part is quite common amongst the fanfom but i feel like Andromeda and Regulus is a underrated pairing smd should be featured in more fics. I ,like most in the fandom, love angst and think that it could add to the betrayal Regulus feels when not only his favourite cousin leaves him but so does his big brother.
As much as I believe Narcissa and Sirius were closer I do then love the trope of when Sirius leaves he goes to Andromeda and they become close then.
In some canon divergent fics Regulus leaves home as well and I think an interesting switch would be that instead of showing up at Sirius' doorstep he shows up at Andromeda's.
I'd love to know if anyone has any other hcs for the black cousins because I love them so dearly and need for content about them!!!
