𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕡

19- Butterfly Effect

"Do you look at us and laugh
When we hold on to the past?"

Respect, a force arguably almost as powerful as love itself. If one truly respects another, then every aspect of their life will be respected. Their wishes, hopes, and dreams, along with the traditions they uphold shall all be respected. Thus, Andromeda could never respect her parents, no matter what way one bent the meaning of respect.

Their very way of life disrespected people's existence. She could not harbor respect for people that refused to, at the very least, be kind to others who were different than them.

This had been the way she thought since an epiphany had struck her during the first year she roamed the corridors of Hogwarts.

The feast that welcomed Andromeda to Hogwarts had done a better job at comforting her than her parents ever had. She sat in one of the upper levels of the school, reading a textbook she had bought prior to coming to the school.

Tomorrow would be the first day of her first year. She should be excited for this, yet she couldn't help but think about anything except Narcissa's sad face as she left with Bellatrix. Even when promising to write every so often, Narcissa didn't get any happier.

Andromeda thought back to when she was sitting alone on the train, looking out the window at her family. They looked like a miserable group of people, and Meda was sure this wasn't because they had just said goodbye to two out of three of their children.

Her mother scowled at a child that had just run into her and fallen on the ground. The little girl started to cry and a girl, who Meda now recognized as the head girl, collected the child while being scolded by Meda's mother. Meda could've jumped back in surprise when the girl spit out words just as generous as her mother's. She was amazed.

Clearly lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realized that the head girl she was thinking about had found her sitting on the floor, alone. Meda looked up with wide eyes as she sat down next to her on the floor.

The head girl was extremely pretty. She had short blonde hair that was cut off at her ear, but was longer at the top. Many ear piercings drew more attention to her ears, Andromeda especially liked the sword earrings at the very bottom of her ears. The girl also wore thin, wire-framed glasses, shaped peculiarly.

"What're you doing out here this late?" She asked quietly. "It's past curfew, y'know."

The girl spoke with an air of authority that Andromeda imagined Professor McGonagall would have in her classroom too.

"I know. The portraits keep reminding me of that," Meda replied.

The head girl raised her eyebrows out of amusement. Her first day on the job, and she was already meeting first years with sass.

"My name is Quinn McKinnon," Quinn stated, holding out her hand formally for the first year to shake. She already knew who this first year was—she remembered her from the sorting—and she figured this first year was used to handshakes. "What's yours?"

"I'm Andromeda Black," Meda replied, shaking Quinn's hand firmly.

"Good to know," Quinn said, loosening her Slytherin tie. "I've got to report you being out this late to our Head of House, Slughorn, unless you give me a good reason not to."