Black's House for Little Witches

12

A/N: This is really just plot progression disguised as fluff. 

Hope you read and enjoy. :)

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Hermione came down for breakfast the next morning with questions on her mind. The most important question on her mind, and one she feared not getting an answer for, was just how did Andy manage to switch between headspaces so easily?

They'd played with their zoo for a couple of hours the prior afternoon. Andy had seemed pretty little and used very few words, resorting to more nonverbal cues to communicate, but by the time they sat down for dinner, she was back to speaking by complete, if still short, sentences.

Putting aside all the talk about cores, Hermione was fascinated by Andromeda's ability to switch between headspaces. She wanted to know how to do it. She still wasn't sure it actually affected her core, but now it was more about intrigue and curiosity than anything else.

She also wanted to know when she could see Harry again, and when they would go to the zoo. She also wanted to know if Bellatrix and Narcissa were really going to take them, and what they were like at the zoo, but those were lower on her list.

Hermione followed Andromeda out of the dining room after breakfast. Whether the other girl knew her intentions or if she planned to go to the observatory straight after breakfast, Hermione didn't know. But she was glad that's where they ended up.

Andromeda sat criss-crossed on the sofa. She regarded Hermione for a long moment. "You have a question."

She sounded and looked so eerily like Bellatrix at that moment. It made Hermione falter. "Um, yes."

"Does it have anything to do with being Little?"

"Uh, well, yes."

Andromeda hummed as she continued to appraise Hermione. "What exactly are you wanting me to tell you, Hermione?" She raised one brow curiously. She managed to imitate Narcissa's mannerisms so well, too. It was almost like speaking to the older woman herself.

Hermione gulped nervously. She hadn't expected to feel so intimidated talking to the other girl. "Um, well actually, now I don't know," she stammered out, unnerved by how studiously Andy watched her. She felt like an idiot, really. What did she expect Andromeda to tell her?

"I can't tell you how to be Little, Hermione," Andromeda stated. Her statement was blunt like Bellatrix, but she spoke gently like Narcissa. Truly, the girl was a mix of her sisters. "There's really no right or wrong way to be Little."

"You were much younger yesterday than you normally are in headspace. How do you do that?"

Andromeda shrugged. The faintest shade of pink tinted her cheeks. Maybe she was embarrassed to have her young headspace pointed out so casually? "I don't know. I just do." She held one hand up as Hermione started to speak again. "Look, the best advice I can give you is to just stop thinking about it so much. Things got so much simpler for me when I really understood that my sisters would handle everything, and I didn't have to think."

Hermione bit her lip and rubbed at the hem of her shirt. What she wanted to actually do was bite her fingers, but she didn't think that would be highly approved of if Narcissa happened to find them. "That's all well and good, but the thought of it terrifies me. I'm not in control, and-"

"Hermione, you hold all the control," Andy calmly pointed out. "I know you didn't like the diaper, but you're not wearing one anymore, right? Aside from that, you have all the power. No one has forced you into headspace at all since you got here. All you have to do is just stop thinking and do what feels right to you."