Blackbird

Chapter 58

The angry voices broke off so abruptly as she opened the door, it was like their throats had been slit. The expressions of shock they wore would have matched that theory.

One figure she had not heard from the hall was Lorie, but considering she was bound and gagged and lying in the corner, it was hardly surprising. She could see Lorie's eyes though. Bright and blue and wide and terrified. She wanted to assure Lorie everything was going to be alright, but she couldn't until she had dealt with the three people in front of her.

Rodolphus, of all people, was the first to recover. "Well, I stand corrected. You do care about that scum after all. Or did you realize what you were missing with the mudblood and came back for some real men?"

His words, combined with the warm his eyes moved lazily done her body, sent chills down her spine. But she refused to let him unnerve her. "Let her go. Your quarrel is with me."

Rodolphus's eyebrows raised ever so slightly at her response. "After everything she's seen? And heard?"

"Wipe her memory." Andromeda forced herself closer to the three of them, and did her best to ignore the way Bella's hand curled around her wand. "I'm sure superior wizards such as yourself could manage such a feat."

Bella and Rodolphus's eyes flashed at the insult, but they had no choice but to prove her right. With a murderous glare at her sister, Bella crossed over to Lorie and grabbed her face roughly. Lorie whimpered, and Meda cringed. For a moment, she feared Bella would do as she had threatened earlier and murder the girl, but she distinctly heard Bella mutter "Obliviate." Lorie's eyes rolled back into their sockets, and then she slumped to the floor.

Bella stared at her in disgust for a moment before turning to Meda, at which point the disgust became more pronounced.

"Now for you. Lucky for you loverboy here is willing to take you back, no matter how much you've tainted yourself." She gave Rabastan his own dose of Bella disgust before continuing. " We'll have to convince our parents you had a temporary bout of insanity, but it is over now. You've come back to your senses. It will take a fair amount of groveling on your part," She stopped her glowering long enough to give Andromeda a smug look. "And assurances that you can keep her in line," she turned her smug look to Rabastan. "But I'm sure superior wizards such as yourselves can manage that."

This time her look was for both of them, but Andromeda was hardly paying attention. She was bracing herself for what she was about to say next.

"No."

Bella and Rodolphus just looked confused, like they hadn't really heard her. But Rabastan did. And the look he gave her was enough to shatter her heart all over again.

"What did you say?" Bella asked. Slowly. Dangerous.

"I said no." Andromeda lifted her chin, so no one could mistake her words. "I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back."

Rodolphus and Bella didn't look confused now. Instead, a matching dark look passed over both of their features.

Then Bella laughed. A haughty laugh devoid on any real humor. "Your obsoletness in this matter would be adorable if it weren't so damned annoying," She then proceeded to stalk toward Meda, much like a tiger would stalk toward a deer. "Our parents will never let you go, Andromeda. You are Black, by blood, even if not by heart." She spat in disgust to emphasize her point.

But Andromeda didn't flinch. Weakness wasn't an option she could afford. "They're going to let me go. Because you are going to convince them too."

Under a different circumstances the look on her sister's face would have been comical. "Why would I do that?"