Black's House for Little Witches

5

A/N: Hello, a new update. If you're still here reading, thanks!

Hopefully you read and enjoy. :)

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Hermione spent the next several days hiding in her room. She came out for meals and small stints of lessons, but otherwise she avoided the others to the best of her ability. She would have hung out with Andromeda, but the other girl seemed to stick close to either of her sisters most of the time, and when she wasn't, they ended up finding Andromeda to keep her on a set schedule, which Hermione preferred to not be caught up in. Narcissa and Bellatrix had not forced her into any sort of routine, even if they did continue insisting on making her wear a nappy. She didn't know if that was just a thing all Littles had to do, if it was so that Andromeda didn't feel singled out, or what, but she did not like it.

She might have been bored in her self-imposed exile, but Andromeda had lent her some books during one of their lesson periods.

"Maybe you've read them already," the girl had said as she shyly offered a stack of books. There were at least four, but the spines weren't aligned so it was hard to count how many exactly there were. "You've probably read them. But, maybe you'd want to read them again."

Hermione had accepted the books with quiet thanks. She hadn't wanted to admit that she had spent most of her time in the Hogwarts library reading academic books. She'd had so much to learn about the wizarding world and magic, plus classwork and studying for exams, that she hadn't had time to read any of the non-fictional works from wizarding society.

Of course, she'd heard a large majority of the students talk about The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but she'd never read it herself. It was on her list of books to read eventually; she just hadn't gotten around to it.

Andromeda's copy of the book, while clearly taken care of, was also very well used. Hermione thought it might have come from the girl's own personal collection of books. It was kind of heartwarming to think Andromeda was willing to part with a book she obviously enjoyed so much.

A knock on her door startled her from her thoughts. Once she took a few breaths to calm her racing heart, she called out for whoever was outside to come in. She hoped it wasn't Bellatrix or Narcissa.

Andromeda peered around the door. "Hi," she greeted simply.

Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion. "Hi. Did you need something?" Andromeda shook her head, which only added to her confusion. "Oh. Do your sisters need me?"

The other girl once again shook her head. "Come. I show you something."

Hermione, still very confused, began to stand and walk towards the girl.

Andromeda held a hand out. "Bring book if you want."

Well, that was something Hermione could work with. Whatever they were about to get up to couldn't be entirely that bad if she had the possibility of reading. She grabbed her loaned copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and another children's story book before following Andromeda into the hall.

The other girl didn't have any books, but she did have a soft looking green blanket decorated with silver stars. How very Slytherin.

Wrapped up in the blanket, Hermione noted Andromeda toted a panda bear stuffed animal. She didn't think the other girl knew of any muggle creatures. But then, Narcissa had conjured a teddy bear of her own for her on her first day there. Now she slightly wished she had grabbed her own teddy.

"Have you seen a real panda before?" she found herself asking.

Andromeda glanced at her curiously for a moment before nodding. "The zoo. Cissy took me."