Black's House for Little Witches

7

A/N: This chapter has a little bit of backstory on Andromeda. There's not anything explicit depicted, but vague mentions of an attack on a child are brought up. Also, I'm sort of making up how magic works and affects people medically in this, but it's just a fun little story and not anything to be taken seriously.

Hope you read and enjoy. :)

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Hermione found Andromeda in the observatory a few days after her impromptu meltdown and flying lesson. The other girl was on her belly stretched across her ever present blanket, scribbling into a notebook.

"Coloring?" Hermione asked as she sat down beside the girl.

Andromeda shook her head and pushed her notebook to the side. Hermione was surprised to see it was actually a workbook on muggle arithmetics.

"You do maths?"

Andromeda nodded. "It's kind of like arithmancy," she answered. It seemed Hermione had found her in one of her Big moments. "Cissa promised she'd take me to Diagon today. I want a new chemistry workbook. You can come if you want."

"Chemistry?"

Andromeda nodded. "It's very interesting. Cissy sometimes let's me do experiments in the lab. Usually when I'm not Little. She still supervises though."

Hermione tilted her head curiously. "Did your friend, um, Teddy, I think? Did he tell you about these things?"

"Maybe." Andromeda blushed and ducked her head. "But I do find them interesting."

"Uh huh. And are you meeting with him in Diagon?"

Andromeda scowled, but it wasn't a vicious look like some of the girls in Gryffindor would give. "I might be."

Hermione grinned. "That's cool. I'm kind of jealous, actually. You get to see your friend still."

Andromeda set her pencil down. "You could if you asked," she said softly. "You really should learn to ask for things, Hermione." She tapped her pencil against her book. "Or just things in general."

Hermione frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You obviously have questions. You should ask them. Then you won't make yourself so anxious."

That sounded like something Narcissa or Bellatrix would say. Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Did your sisters put you up to this?"

"No. But they told me that a lot over the years since I came home from the hospital."

"What was that like?" Hermione asked. She slapped her hand over mouth. "Sorry. I didn't really mean to ask that. You don't have to answer." That was a personal, invasive question. The type of question that usually ended in her dorm mates yelling at her and storming away.

Andromeda only shrugged. "It was scary for a while. I had nightmares constantly. I slept in one of their rooms every night for a long time. It was easier to just be Little and let them handle things like worrying about when to take a bath or what I should eat."

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked. "How do you do that now? Be Little?" She was asking questions. Did Andromeda do that intentionally?

"Well, I knew my sisters would take care of me. It does involve a lot of trust," Andromeda admitted. "I can understand your apprehension. You didn't know anything about this, and then you were told that you were gonna come stay with a family you didn't know."

Andromeda seemed to understand. At least to some degree. She seemed more understanding than all the other adults around them. Except, neither of her sisters were really pushing Hermione to be Little, aside from the nappy thing, so maybe they also understood her reluctance.