Symphony | Andromeda Black

Back To Hogwarts

Glenda wrote to Andromeda in the coming weeks, but she didn't write back. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to explain how she was feeling, how any of them were feeling. The house was cast in shadow. Andromeda stayed out of that bathroom, because every time she looked at the porcelain bath she saw Aurelia in bloody water.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Narcissa was going to Hogwarts in less than a month. It wasn't until the middle of August that Druella remembered to send the house elves to collect her new books, because she was in charge of the house elves and household in general, and they would never do anything unless instructed. Andromeda had more patience for her parents than either of her sisters and tried to talk to her mother about Augustus and Aurelia, but she waved her away and told her good children were seen and not heard.

Sometimes at night she dreamed about her cousin, and the little baby inside her. She wondered what would have happened if Aurelia hadn't done what she had. She would have still been disowned. The child wouldn't have been recognised as either a Fawley or a Rosier, not really. But it would have lived. Andromeda had always been taught that that was the right way to do things, but she was now woefully confused. Because of the ideals she had always been taught, Augustus, her nineteen year old cousin, and their unborn baby had died.

But Cygnus had other ideas. He took the girls into his study and told them that what Aurelia had done had been selfish and shameful, and they had to forget about her.

"I know the three of you will keep on the right path," he said. "You're all good children."

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Narcissa was very quiet on her last night at home. After she came back from Cygnus' study she blurted, "Andy, what happens if I don't get put in Slytherin?"

"You will," she said confidently. "You're a Black, you know all Blacks are Slytherins."

"Yes, but what if I was the first not to be?"

Andromeda hesitated. "Father probably wouldn't be happy."

Narcissa paled. "I wouldn't be disowned?"

"Oh no, nothing as bad as that. He would just probably be disappointed."

"Oh," she said, a little relieved. "Well, he's disappointed in me already. He said I need to make a bigger effort with school. He said I'm lazy, but I'm not, Andy. The words won't come right. I can think of them all properly in my head but when I try to write them down they go all squiggly."

She paused. "The teachers wouldn't cane me for that, would they?"

"No, of course not. They don't cane people anymore at Hogwarts. I told you."

"They might," Narcissa persisted, fidgeting with the end of her long blonde plait. "If you did something naughty enough."

"Never."

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When Andromeda and Bellatrix returned to platform nine and three quarters, this time they had Narcissa with them. Bellatrix went off with her friends, but Andromeda stuck close to her sister. Like she had been the year before, she was overwhelmed by all of the people, all of the noise.

Andromeda found Glenda and Narcissa came with them into the compartment. Almost unconsciously, she twisted her little opal ring around her finger. She knew it was horrible, but anxieties had kept her up about Narcissa and Glenda. She was so used to being upstaged by her bubbly little sister that she'd worried Glenda would want her for her best friend instead.

Glenda was irritated anyway, because Andromeda hadn't replied to her letters.

"I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore. I wrote and wrote about you coming to my birthday party, but you didn't answer. It would have been so much more fun if you had come."

"I'm sorry," Andromeda said guiltily. "There were.....family issues."

She liked how grown up and sophisticated the phrase was, and how little it described the horrible things that had happened.

"Our cousin died," Narcissa said, fidgeting with her new tie. "We were all upset."

Glenda's annoyance melted. "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry. I was probably being really awful then, sending you letters about stupid parties when you had to deal with all that."

"It's okay," Andromeda said. "I should have replied. I wish I could have gone. What did you do?"

"We went bowling."

"Bowling?" Narcissa wrinkled her nose.

Glenda shrugged. "It's a muggle thing."

"Oh, well, then Mother probably wouldn't have let Andy go anyway."

Andromeda elbowed her sharply in the ribs.

When Glenda got up to buy some sweets from the witch with the trolley, Narcissa hissed, "What did you do that for?"

"Sorry. Just don't talk about Mother and Father to people, all right?"

"Why not?" She asked in confusion.

Andromeda hesitated. She didn't exactly know how to explain that she didn't like the way people looked at her when she mentioned Cygnus caning them, or the fact that they never celebrated birthdays. It was like they thought her parents were strange.

"They wouldn't like us talking about them behind their backs," she said eventually. "You know they wouldn't. So zip it."

When Glenda came back, she had a large armful of sweets and dumped them on the empty seat. Narcissa's eyes were like round plates.

"Take as many as you want," she said cheerfully. Narcissa went so overboard that eventually Andromeda had to go into Druella mode and tell her she was going to ruin her teeth.

When they finally got to Hogwarts, Narcissa went off with the other first years. Andromeda waved at her as she climbed into the boats, and she waved right back.

"You're like her mum," Glenda said, watching her.

Andromeda shrugged. "I've always taken care of her."

"Yeah, well, my brother Milton just started too and I'm not waving him off. He'd die of shame if I did, he wants all his friends to think he's cool."

They sat down together at the Slytherin table, where Lacrimosa Rowle took her usual opportunity to sneer at them.

"We don't want Hufflepuffs here, Wormhead. Piss off back to your own table."

"I don't want you here either, but I suppose we all have to live with it," Glenda said calmly, as the first years piled in.

Narcissa needn't have worried. She was a Slytherin, and when she came to the table Andromeda gave her a hug.