This is my entry for the Pureblood Competition with the character Andromeda and prompt 'clip'. Thank you to Appeltje Fruitschaal for beta-ing this.
Darkness had fallen several hours ago, and with it the air had grown cold, causing guests to start moving indoors to carry on the festivities. Soon, Andromeda was the only person left in the gardens where she lay in a secluded spot, away from wandering eyes and probing questions, gazing dreamily up at the stars in the clear sky. Her eyes found the three stars lined neatly in a row: Orion's Belt. A loud sigh escaped her lips and she allowed her eyes to drift shut. She'd had too much Firewhiskey, her head was spinning, the stars whirling and dancing to the universe's own magical song.
"Young ladies shouldn't lie in the grass, you know."
Her eyes flew open at the near perfect imitation of her mother's voice and she saw her sister smirking down at her. Andromeda managed a grin and Bellatrix snorted before coming to lie in the grass next to her.
"You're drunk."
"You're married," Andromeda replied, focusing on the small line of stars again until they stopped dancing, hanging still and obedient in the inky sky once more. The grass tickled the bare skin of her arms and she absent-mindedly pulled at handfuls of it, uprooting it from its home in the nice, safe soil. "You're married..." Laughter bubbled up and escaped.
"I'm glad it amuses you," Bellatrix said loftily, but Andromeda could hear the smile in her sister's voice and she rolled over to face her. Curly brown tendrils escaped the pins and jewel encrusted hair clip that was digging painfully into her scalp and rested on her flushed cheeks.
"Remember... Remember when I started Hogwarts... we used to swap places?" she whispered clumsily.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Your breath stinks. Don't go anywhere near Aunt Walburga tonight, the woman has a nose like a blood hound."
"Do you remember?" Andromeda pressed.
"Of course I remember. Why?" Even in the darkness, her black eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth twisted upwards into another smirk. "Are you offering to switch places with me tonight? We don't look as similar as we did then but if you're willing to save me from four minutes of passionless thrusting, I am willing to let you try."
Andromeda screwed her face up and let out a sigh, the smile fading from her face. "Seriously, Bella, don't you ever wish you could be someone else? Or somewhere else? This life... the dull monotony..." She sat up suddenly, gathering steam. "The constant pressure to be perfect means that's all we can do with our lives! In public at least, because in private, we're either spreading our legs to push a baby out, or have new ones fucked back in!"
Bellatrix had sat up and was staring at her with an expression of amusement and surprise. "Lower your voice, idiot."
Andromeda looked away from her sister, picking at the grass as her temper subsided. The cool air was starting to sober her up and she suddenly longed for the feeling of giddiness. "I just... I just want to live my life the way I want to, not like Mother and Father, or Aunt Walburga, or Cissy… Or even you."
Silence fell. Andromeda risked a look at her sister and bit her lip. "I just want to be happy, Bella."