Symphony | Andromeda Black

Wedding Plans

When she woke, her body was stiff and sore, and sunlight was coming in under her curtains and hurting her eyes. Andromeda sat up with some difficulty, and took her dressing gown from the nearby chair. It was a painful experience to push her stiff arms through the sleeves and put on her slippers, but she managed it.

She had no mirror in her bedroom and so shuffled into the bathroom along the corridor. Her face was a shock, a mess of bruising and swollen skin. She barely recognized herself. She could not face anyone like this, not Narcissa or her mother. She went back to bed, wincing at the pain in her bruised legs as she lifted them up. 

She kept to her bedroom all day. she intended to study for school, or maybe read a book, but she could not focus. House elves brought her food, but it hurt to eat, and the dishes were taken away almost untouched. Time ticked slowly away, and it was evening when there was a little knock on the locked door.

"Andromeda?" Narcissa, her voice tentative. "Can I come in?"

"I'm busy," she cleared her throat. "I've got lots of schoolwork to do."

"I know what happened," she said hesitantly. "Please. I want to talk."

Andromeda sighed, then got out of bed unsteadily, unlocking the door. 

Narcissa took one look at her and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Oh Andromeda – Mother wouldn't tell me what happened, but I heard – oh your face –"

"Close the door," her voice was husky from misuse, and her mouth stung when she talked. 

Narcissa did as she was told, perching on the end of her bed. Andromeda could feel her eyes lingering on her face.

"Is it true?" She whispered. "Why Grandmother beat you? Were you out with muggles?"

Andromeda thought of Jacob, and was mortified. She would never, ever, tell anybody.

"No," she said stoutly. She went to pour a drink of water, and as her hand shook, Narcissa took the jug from her.

"Let me do it, Andy."

"Thanks. I just went for a walk. That's all. But Grandmother thought...."

"Grandmother thinks a lot of things," Narcissa said it quietly, but fiercely, as she handed the glass of water to her sister. "She could have killed you. Mother was crying all night."

Andromeda made no comment to this as she raised the glass to her lips. Whatever Druella had been crying about, she was sure it hadn't been her. She winced as she sat back in the chair, her back twinging where it was bruised. Narcissa caught the wince.

"Wait here," she jumped up off the bed. "I've got some painkillers."

Andromeda began to protest. She had never taken any kind of painkiller in her life, not even for a period pain - her father had taught her that pain was a lesson, a punishment, a reminder of what she had done. 

But when Narcissa came back, sporting a little glass of a bright pink liquid, she simply sighed and took it from her. 

"What is it?" She sniffed the concoction warily, but it smelled sweet and light, more pleasant than any medicine she had ever taken. 

"Madam Pomfrey gives it to the girls for their monthlies. It works, Andromeda. I promise I'm not trying to poison you."

Narcissa smiled at her and Andromeda felt the ghost of it rise on her lips as she raised the glass to her mouth. The effect was almost instant - she felt suddenly that the knot of tension in her back had eased, her body free of pain and aches. But she was almost sorry to see them go. Pain was a reminder, after all, it was a feeling she welcomed. Without it she felt lost, angry and weak. 

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Andromeda had a tight, knotted ball of fury inside her from then on. At one level she knew she had deserved what had been done to her, but on another she knew how Glenda would react, how abnormal it was to be beaten so badly by your own grandmother. . She didn't say anything else, not to Narcissa, not to Druella. People came to visit and she didn't utter a word, but inside she was seething, and it only got worse. Her grandfather came with some news near the end of the summer. Alfred Travers had been talking to him, and he wanted Andromeda for a wife.

When Andromeda heard this, she went very cold, but said nothing, looking to her mother.

Druella didn't show any emotion, gazing absently at the fireplace, where the flames were leaping towards the chimney.  "Andromeda will have to finish school first," she said. "She still has two years."

Sebastian stood in front of the fire, taking a cigar from his silver case. "Oh very well, very well," he said, though he sounded irritated. He tapped the end of the fat cigar with his wand and it began to burn. "Two years won't make any difference. She'll still be young."

He stuck the cigar in the corner of his mouth and looked to his granddaughter, his pale eyes looking right into her own. Andromeda shifted uncomfortably, worried that by him looking at her so intently, he would see this rotten feeling that was buried inside her, cry that she was a traitor to the names of Black and Rosier and disown her right there and then.

"Well, Andromeda? What do you think?"

She looked away from him, staring instead into the flames, her eyes burning. "I think it's a very fine idea, Grandfather."

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Narcissa seemed to be the only person excited by the news. She asked Andromeda constantly about wedding gowns and plans, until Andromeda felt a sick headache coming on. 

"I don't really want to think about it yet, Cissy," she said at last, after days of being plagued by wedding talk. "It's so far away."

"But weddings take so long to plan," Narcissa was stitching a sampler because she thought she needed to brush up on womanly hobbies. She was no better at it than when she had been a child, her stitches lumping together. 

"I'd like a small one," Andromeda replied. "Only....only close family."

"Grandmother won't like that," Narcissa said, but the corner of her mouth quirked in a smile. "But you'll have bridesmaids?"

"You and Bellatrix. I'm thinking you can wear a custard yellow," Andromeda was teasing, watching her sister close for a reaction. "Or perhaps a nice burgundy."

Narcissa's face was one of horror, but then she picked up a cushion and hit her sister with it. "You wouldn't dare!"

Andromeda dodged the cushion easily, grinning. "Of course I would. Burgundy would look great on you. Or a nice bright orange."

This time Narcissa's cushion really did  hit her. Andromeda laughed, forgetting, just for a moment, the terrible knot in her stomach.