Symphony | Andromeda Black

Hogwarts

"Mortifying," Druella said that evening, as she took off her white gloves. "I was mortified, Andromeda. How dare you embarrass us?"

"I forgot the notes," she said, in a small voice.

"Forgot the notes! You were in front of our entire family, Andromeda. Three years of piano lessons! Is there anything you can do right? I should have asked Narcissa to play."

Narcissa had slipped off to bed with a look of sympathy, but Andromeda could not escape so soon.

"I'm sorry, Mother," she said meekly.

"You will be," Druella was undoing her hair, fluffing out the golden waves. "Get out of my sight."

Andromeda was glad to escape.

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The very next morning, they all woke up to Narcissa with a pair of scissors, thick locks of hair scattered on the table. It was all uneven, jagged and rough.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it!" Andromeda's mouth was wide open. "Maybe Mother will be able to fix it with a charm."

"I don't want her to," Narcissa looked triumphant, tipping her chin definitely. "I like it like this."

When Druella saw her, she tried to find a charm to fix her hair back, but it was a useless exercise. She poured through the books in her parent's library, but there was nothing.

In the end, she picked up the scissors and cut it neater.

"You look like a boy, Narcissa," she said, and Andromeda was shocked to see she was almost near tears. "Your beautiful hair!"

When Cygnus saw her, he didn't say much, but he shook his head, and their grandmother tutted in disapproval.

"Don't be such a fool, Druella. I've got some stuff to help grow it back."

Her "stuff" was a bottle of foul smelling violet liquid. She washed Narcissa's hair over the sink, getting Andromeda to help with the water. When Narcissa complained about the liquid burning her scalp their grandmother slapped the backs of her legs and told her it would teach her a lesson.

No matter how hard she scrubbed and scrubbed at Narcissa's hair, it only grew to her chin in the end. Her scalp and the skin around her ears and the top of her forehead were bright red, but she wore a triumphant smirk for the rest of the day.

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It was horrible how things you dreaded came quicker, Andromeda thought on the last evening before Hogwarts. She had been ignoring it as best she could, yet here it was.

She had begged her mother to buy her a bra, and she had eventually relented, though she had said, "I don't see how you've got anything to put in it, Andromeda."

It was blue. She hated how she always got stuck with blue. But she still planned on wearing it anyway, padded with tissue because even though it was the smallest size they could find, it was still too big for her. As they had for Bellatrix, they had a family meal, and then Cygnus called her into his study.

Andromeda went slowly, and sat down in front of the desk when instructed.

Cygnus gave a dry cough and settled in his own leather chair. "Andromeda," he said. "Tomorrow you will begin a new chapter of your life. I hope it does not need to be said that you uphold the family values."

"Yes Father."

"No socialising with mudbloods. Make friends with like minded people from Slytherin," he paused. "You know, Andromeda, I believe you are the one most like me."

"Me?" She said in surprise.

"Yes, you. Bellatrix looks like my family, but she has the personality of your Rosier grandmother, down to the ground."

Andromeda thought of her vain, selfish, pushy grandmother, and hoped it wasn't true.

"And Narcissa, she is identical to your mother, but sometimes I honestly wonder if she's braindead. The child can't seem to read at all."

Andromeda bit her tongue, urging herself not to answer back. The familiar sting of the cane was too close a memory for comfort.

"It's laziness, Andromeda, pure and simple. Anyway, you must be the one to carry my legacy. I have no son, and I did hope it would be Bellatrix, but...."

He gave a soft sigh. "She gets carried away. You're dependable."

Dependable, she thought. Reliable, dependable, boring Andromeda.

"Yes Father," she said, a little more flatly.

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She didn't sleep much that night at all. Her stomach was a twisting mess, and when she woke up in the morning, she and Bellatrix had a quick breakfast before going with a house elf.

She wished she hadn't padded her new bra. As they walked, she could hear the tissue scrunching.

"Have you got tissue in your bra?" Bellatrix asked her.

"No," she said stoutly.

The station was very busy. Andromeda was sure she had never seen so many people in her life and hung close to her sister. The house elf didn't linger too long, and disapparated quickly. Andromeda took a deep breath, though she felt sick to her stomach. She wondered how many of the people in front of her were mudbloods. It was obvious to tell with some, because they gawked at house elves and flying trunks. Many of the students, especially the first years, had parents kissing them goodbye. Some of them were even crying. And hardly any of them were dressed in their Hogwarts robes like she and Bellatrix were. Andromeda stared at the people. They all looked so strange, dressed in bright colourful clothes, some of the girls even wearing trousers.

A gaggle of fourth year girls called out to Bellatrix, but she stayed with Andromeda and walked onto the train with her.

"You'll find a compartment, won't you Andromeda?" She asked. "There's heaps of nice people. Just be sure to avoid the mudbloods."

Andromeda nodded, too scared to speak, and as she walked down the centre of the train with Max's cage carefully held aloft, in case of banging, she felt tears spring into her eyes. Everything was so loud. Children laughing and yelling, owls hooting, cats hissing – she had never been somewhere so noisy before. She wanted to go home more than anything, and looked behind her, thinking wildly. The doors were still open, she could still get off the train. But how would she get home? The house elf was long gone, and she couldn't apparate yet, and there would be no portkey....

She was standing in the way, and older students jostled her, complaining, shoving and pushing, yelling, and she opened a door at random, desperate to be out of the crowd.

It was empty but for a small boy with heavy framed black glasses. He blinked at her owlishly from behind them.

"Hello," she said tentatively. "Can I sit in here?"

He nodded slowly, and she laid Max's cage down carefully on a seat before sitting herself, then paused.

"Do you know if you can let animals out on the train? Only Max doesn't like his cage."

"I don't know. I'm muggleborn, you see."

She froze. It was far too late to leave the compartment, however, so she just moved as far away from him as she could, and looked out the window as the whistle blew and they pulled away from the station. She thought of home, of Narcissa and Tom and her parents and the house elves, and she wished more than anything that she could go back.