An Account of Falling Stars

Chapter 13: Andromeda

Over the next week, every evening after school Sirius came bounding into my little secret room which he proudly dubbed 'Room of Requirement. "Or RoR, if you're lazy" He cackled, patting his leg at his own joke like an old man.

"You're such a nerd Sirius." I grinned rolling my eyes fondly.

"I'm punk rock!" He said indignantly, puffing out his chest. Sirius Black may look like a rockstar on the outside but he was the biggest geek I know. I would tell him this and we'd argue on like that for a bit.

When we weren't arguing or getting stoned, he'd tell me about his day at school, about the mini pranks that he pulled on his teachers with his friend James. Or about his meaningless flirting with a bunch of random girls. Or about a bossy, know-it-all redheaded prefect who was alright really. But he spoke most about a tall boy, who was incredibly smart and had a bad-ass scar on his face.

I loved to hear it, I got excited as if I was there with him, and it was a great distraction from any thoughts of marriage. Since the day we spent in Bella's room, none of my sister's had brought up the situation and I didn't intend to either. But I saw how Narcissa's jaw tightened whenever the door bell echoed through the house, and I noticed how Bellatrix casted worried glances at me and Narcissa whenever mother and father wanted to talk to us. I tried to make them laugh, loosen up a little. This is what we had been preparing for our entire lives, we knew it would happen, but they couldn't be calmed. All the nervous energy buzzing around the house that my cousins seemed oblivious to, left me on edge as well, so after the fifth day of bouncing my leg all the way through every meal, messing up in every music class and getting a backhand from my mother when she sat in on my tutorship with my governess, I had to slip out.

Bellatrix, Narcissa and I were sitting in the music room, each of us delicately playing our classical instruments. It was so boring I wanted to through myself right through the double glazed windows, or hang myself on the billowing lace curtains. My mother was walking around the room, back straight, nose in the way, occasionally adjusting our posture.

After about three hours of this in absolute silence, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Mother," I said timidly. My mother didn't look at me. Her hands were trained on Narcissa's raw fingers, "Narcissa!" She snapped. Narcissa's head shot up, her eyes wide, she looked terrified. "Yes mother?" She said evenly.

"Are you an imbecile?" mother said, her voice venomous.

Narcissa hung her head, her frail shoulders shook as she held back a sob, not daring to make a sound. "I said, are you an imbecile?" Mother snapped again, jerking Narcissa's chin up and making her head snap back with a deafening click. "No mother." Narcissa replied, her voice tiny.

"Retard? Halfwit? Pillock? Ignoramus?"

"No mother." Narcissa said again, her voice even weaker.

"Then why are you playing like one!?" My mother screamed. I felt the room vibrate. "Did we raise you like this!? You are to play at the Halloween Gala this year and yet your skill is mediocre at best!"

I bristled, Narcissa was probably the best musician in the house and everyone knew it. "Mother." I said louder this time, rising to my feet and gripping my clarinet tightly in my fist, I imagined snapping the wood in my palm. It calmed me. Finally my mother looked at me dangerously. She didn't say a word, so I took it as an opportunity to speak. "Narcissa was playing beautifully mother." Bellatrix and Narcissa were both staring at me wide eyed, Bellatrix was shaking her head, subtly pleading for me to shut up while Narcissa seemed absolutely frozen. "Do you love your sister Andromeda?" The question caught me off guard and my mouth dropped open, even though I knew that it was bad manners. "I believe I asked you a question." My mother's voice was eerily calm and it sent a ripple down my spine that I couldn't shake. My sisters were staring at me, but for once I couldn't read their emotions. "I- I- Of course I do." I stuttered, I seemed to shrink as each syllable left my lips.