𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁𝘀

A Shredded Letter, Daises, and a Large Oak Tree

A/N: This is my entry for arnoldthe-pygmypuff 's Wonderful Wizarding World one-shot contest! Also, thank you to agentbot08 for editing this for me!

Letters and characters' thoughts are italicized!

The years are there as a guide for you and for me because sometimes timelines can be a bit confusing! <3

...
1961
Pre-Hogwarts

Andromeda always had known she was different. Throughout growing up, she hadn't believed in or ever thought once that she was superior to a muggle. In fact, she had found them quite fascinating.

She had two sets of beliefs; the one her family thought she shared and the one she actually believed. Meda was quite skilled at keeping the two separate, which came in handy whenever she was near any family members.

As a nine-year-old, without Bella's watchful eye over her (Bellatrix had left for Hogwarts earlier that year,) she had acquired much more freedom. With this thought in mind, Meda ran out the door across the street to play with all the other muggle children.

The muggle children questioned Meda about where she had come from and why they hadn't seen her around, but she just simply smiled and answered with an alternate game they could try to play.

Meda had such a great time laughing with people her age, who weren't her sisters, that she forgot about the possibility of her mother, Druella, or her sister, Cissy, catching her outside having the time of her life.

Of course, when the sun set Andromeda walked back into the Black household with a wide grin on her face, which was wiped clean when she saw Druella holding her wand threateningly with Narcissa standing behind her.

She never understood why she was punished for things such as playing with harmless muggle children, but what she had learned was that if she wanted to keep this up, she would have to learn how to trick her family into believing she was just like them.

...
1964

Hogwarts represented newfound freedom she hadn't acquired until she stepped into the building. Andromeda had known that being away from her parents would present her new opportunities, but there was still Bellatrix to deal with.

Bella held the exact opposite views to Meda and she made it clear. Anyone who wasn't pureblooded was filth from under her shoe, which she constantly reminded them of.

The Great Hall filled Meda with the hope that this was the place she would separate herself from her family, but she looked up to see Bella grinning wildly from the Slytherin table and she knew that's where she needed to be to fulfill her family's expectations. Besides, she was far too afraid of the challenges of setting herself apart from the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

The first-year line was filled with anxiety-ridden children, but Andromeda Black was taught how to act properly in front of other people. She was to show no emotion and hold her head up high to show everyone else that she was a sophisticated young woman.

Yet, the rules that had been drilled into her head were not the reason she wasn't near shaking like all the other kids. Andromeda had been told what the Sorting was and the way things would go after she was sorted.

1. Her name would be called.

"Andromeda Black," the woman with her hair in a tight bun called.

The clapping from the last sorted student had died out and all eyes were drawn onto the young girl. She specifically felt the eyes of her elder sister, who was grinning madly still.