(1960)

Isadora's dad was an odd fellow. He was never at home. Izzie's mother claimed he was working, but she also claimed they were married when everyone knew they were not. He was a lord or something of the sort- you only had to see the clothes he wore, to hear him speak, or watch him scowl to anyone who tried to chat with him the few times he appeared on the street. Meanwhile, mother and child lived comfortably -they had nice clothes, and a brand new television set- but it was obvious he didn't live with them. He could often be seen watching Isadora play with the other children on Saturday afternoons, but only for a little while. It didn't take long for everyone in the street to realize that Jane Howard was probably that man's mistress. They complained at first- did they want a woman like that living among them, in a nice street like theirs? With their daughter playing among their children? But at some point, it didn't seem to matter anymore. Janey was all smiles and sympathy and the girl took after her mother, thankfully. The little dresses she sewed for the girls' dolls were adorable- and she practically gave them away. She was not the sort of neighbor with whom one could exchange gossip, but she was nice enough, and always knew which new film was worth watching or where to get the best new fabrics for a bargain price. But she never spoke about her daughter's father, no matter how friendly one was with her or how much they asked. Eventually, they stopped asking and even curiosity waned. In the end, they pitied her. The poor girl was obviously madly in love with that proud and unpleasant man. Someday he'd tire of her, and it would end in tears.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

(1963)

It was a few days after Isadora's seventh birthday when Janey noticed that her daughter's father had been visiting them much more often than usual. He generally came once or twice a week, but she counted four visits that Saturday. He seemed to be watching Izzie closely, although Janey couldn't imagine why. Her daughter seemed happy to have her Dad around, and she certainly didn't complain.

That day she had been hard at work making a dress for little Sarah-from-around-the-corner's doll, and Isadora became obsessed with the shiny pale blue fabric she was using. Izzie's favorite doll's dress was pink, but it was less than a month old and Janey didn't think she had enough fabric for two dresses. She refused her daughter and Izzie insisted until she almost cried, so Janey had to send her to her room without pudding. Now that they were alone, Izzie's dad came to sit closer to her, but then Izzie came running out of her room, holding her doll out for her mother to see.

'Look, Mummy, look at what I did!' she said excitedly, smiling widely and showing the little gaps where her baby teeth were missing. Janey looked at Margaret the doll and gasped. Its pink dress had turned the same shade of blue as Sarah's doll.

Janey stared at it, stunned, while Izzie's father scooped their daughter up and hugged her, joyous.

'I knew it! I knew you'd be a little witch!' he was saying, spinning around, making Isadora laugh deliriously.

'No, she isn't,' she argued, taking the doll from her daughter's hands. 'That's the dress for Sarah's doll, isn't it?

'No, it's not!' the girl protested.

'Don't be silly,' he said, his broad smile still there. 'You left that in the table, it's right there!'

He smiled at Izzie with a look of pride Janey had never seen on him before, not even when he held her in his arms for the first time.

'We ought to go out and celebrate her first bit of magic, don't you think?' he went on.

Janey felt she should put on a brave face and a smile, but instead she broke down in tears.

'It's not her first bit of magic,' she admitted, shamefully.

His smile disappeared, and he put Izzie down.

'Maybe you should go back to your bedroom,' he told her. Izzie pouted. 'I will have none of that! Go to your room, and I'll bring you a present next time.'

Izzie obeyed after giving her mother a look of concern. Janey felt stupid for not being able to stop crying. He sat down next to her, put an arm around her shoulders and made her feel even worse.

'At first I thought it was just chance' she admitted. 'Little things that could happen on their own. But one day, when she was about three, the glass of milk flew across the room, not one drop spilled... there was no explanation for that, except...'

'Why didn't you tell me? I told you this could happen when she was born...'

'But I didn't want it to happen!' she snapped. How could he not see? Janey had always been in awe of his magical powers but she'd always hoped Izzie wouldn't inherit them. She was Janey's entire life, and she didn't want to share her with this other world where a muggle like her was useless. And now, he would take her away and teach her magic, and Izzie would go off to be a witch and never think again about her daft, magic-less old mum.

'I didn't want her to be like you,' she tried to explain. 'I don't want you to take her away into your world...'

'I won't be taking her anywhere now,' he said with a smile. 'Yes, she'll go away to school when she's eleven, but doesn't everyone?'

'No!' she answered. 'Well, some children do, but not all...'

'But you can write to her, and she'll have Christmas holidays, Easter holidays and summer holidays... it will be fine.'

He gave her a kiss on her forehead and Janey knew the argument was over and there was nothing more to say. He didn't understand her fears, how isolated she would feel when time came for Izzie to go away. But mostly, how much she feared that once his magical daughter was absorbed into the magical world they shared, he would forget about her.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

(1967)

When Janey had to take Isadora to Diagon Alley, Izzie's dad refused to go with them. He explained that everyone would recognize him, and he might as well publish a notice of acknowledgement of his illegitimate daughter in The Daily Prophet. However, he had arranged for a professor of the school to go with them, so this soothed her nerves about navigating the magical world all on her own. Horace Slughorn was a pleasant man, although he kept treating Janey like a retarded child. Isadora was delighted with all the sights of that wonderful magical world, until a tall, dark-haired girl that Professor Slughorn called Miss Black came to greet him and stared at Isadora and her mother with downright disgust. Janey panicked. The thought of Izzie going to school with her lover's nieces was too much for her to bear.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

'Unless you want me to send her to Canada, she's going to Hogwarts. Durmstrang would never take her and I don't like Beauxbatons,' Isadora's dad said. 'It's the only magic school in Britain, so I'm afraid it'll have to do.'

'You mean she'll be going to school with your sons, too?' Janey said, dismayed. 'I can't believe you!'

'My sons and my nieces are, or will be, all in Slytherin, making friends amongst those of their own class,' he assured her with a superior tone. 'They'll never even look at her.'

He left early after giving Izzie a bag of gold coins for her expenses for the school year, failing to notice that Janey had taken offence to his words.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

The corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed never-ending and confusing to Isadora and her fellow first years on the second of September. Trying to navigate the seas of older students in search of a classroom they'd never been to was intimidating. Isadora was very nervous about fitting in. So far, she'd managed to impress her dormitory mates with a few spells her dad had taught her- and others she'd seen her dad do, although they were somewhat less successful- and made a few friends. They all wondered at a muggleborn (the label was new to Isadora and it was also a lie she'd been instructed to tell) capable of those little spells and familiar with the little things from everyday magical life. However, on their first morning of classes they were all so utterly lost- wizardborn and muggleborn alike- that the inconsistency didn't matter.

The tight knot of first year Hufflepuffs were wondering whether to ask older students the way to Transfigurations when Isadora felt something tug at her ankle, lost her balance, and landed hard, face first, on the hard stone floor. Her classmates gave a gasp of surprise, and then laughed. For a few seconds, all Isadora felt was the burning of her scraped knees and embarrassed face. Everyone was so occupied laughing that no one came to help her up. Isadora looked around from the floor and saw the smug face of an older Slytherin student, with pretty long hair and a somehow familiar aristocratic face.

'Andromeda, that's childish,' said another, even older, Slytherin girl, coming to Isadora and helping her up. When she took her hand, she saw it was the girl she'd seen greeting Professor Slughorn in Diagon Alley. One of the girls Janey had complained about to Arthur, one of his nieces. 'A silly Trip Jinx, aren't you too old for that? Please excuse my sister,' she told Isadora. 'Andromeda lacks true creativity when it comes to jinxes.'

Andromeda looked at her sister with exasperation, but the older girl didn't seem to notice. 'I am Bellatrix Black,' she continued, pointing her wand at Isadora's new robes and fixing a little tear that was the result of her fall, 'and I know perfectly well what you are.'

Isadora almost jumped. Bellatrix's kind tone hadn't been sincere, and she'd noticed that, but now her loud voice had dropped to a cruel whisper.

'A new little Miss Black,' Bellatrix said. 'I'll have you know that Blacks have no ties to muggle filth like you, so you'd better start going by another name or prepare to suffer the consequences.'

Isadora was speechless. People around her were still laughing about her fall, and no one had noticed the older girl's threat. She was afraid of the older girl's determined and serious face. Bellatrix smiled at the results of her little speech and went back to Andromeda and other Slytherins who looked amused at Isadora's terrified face. As soon as Bellatrix had her back to her, Isadora felt something hot running down her legs. There was a new roar of laughter as a first year boy pointed at the yellow pool around Isadora's feet. She stared at it in horror and couldn't stop tears of shame falling down her cheeks.

'I'll tell Slughorn, Black!' yelled Joan Bones, Isadora's prefect, who'd just come running. 'Don't worry, it wasn't you,' she told Isadora. 'It's just one of Bellatrix's nasty jinxes. I hope you didn't get on her wrong side, she can be really horrible.'

She cleaned the little pool and Isadora's clothes with a few spells, broke up the merriment of other first years with a story of how mad Professor McGonagall would be if they were late to their first lesson and threatened to rest house points if they laughed at Isadora, but it was of no consolation to her. She knew that as soon as Bones went her way the other kids would start their teasing and never let Isadora forget the humiliation.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

(1968)

By the end of her first year, Isadora found that she hated Hogwarts almost as much as she loved it. She loved learning magic, and she was happy as long as she was safe inside Hufflepuff house. But, on the other hand, most of the Slytherins despised her, and the Black girls kept bullying her for daring to have Black as a surname. They always said she wasn't worth such an illustrious name. The scene of her first day of school repeated itself almost weekly. Andromeda was not as vicious as Bellatrix, of whom Isadora was absolutely terrified, but it was their younger sister, Narcissa, who tormented her most frequently. She was only one year above Isadora, so the teachers and prefects often insisted they should resolve it amongst themselves. Isadora's classmates stopped finding it funny when other muggleborn and muggle-lovers started being attacked in much the same way by a variety of the school's pureblood and proud population. Isadora wasn't even the only one to suffer for being an unapproved Black; a fifth year Ravenclaw called Edward Black had had his life made hell by the sisters and their pureblood friends, but at least, as far as she knew, he wasn't really related to them. Isadora's tongue literally burned every time she tried to tell them exactly who her father was.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

(1970)

It wasn't until a Hogsmeade visit in fourth year that Isadora figured out why her tongue burned every time she tried talking about her father. While she and her friend Cathy were exploring the caves just off the limits of the village, Andromeda Black sneaked up on her. Isadora was a little scared, but Andromeda hadn't really bullied her since the start of second year and this time fellow Hufflepuff Ted Tonks was with her. He assured Isadora that Andromeda would not hurt her and persuaded Cathy to leave them alone.

'I wanted to say I really am sorry for the way my sisters and I treated you,' she said awkwardly. 'It isn't your fault that Black is your surname. Ted says it's quite common in the muggle world.'

Isadora didn't answer.

'I know an apology doesn't really cover it,' Andromeda said, reaching into her pocket.

'You people try to fix everything with money, don't you?' Isadora said, thinking of her father. Money had been the only answer to Isadora and Janey's complaints about the behavior of his nieces.

Andromeda stared, open mouthed.

'I-it was a gift, actually,' she said, giving her a book. 'Ted told me you are interested in fashion.'

It was a heavy, expensive tome of Madam Beauxvêtu's History of Wizarding Fashion. She had checked that book out of the library at least sixteen times for the past year.

'I meant for it to be a token of peace,' Andromeda explained. 'I'll try to keep Narcissa from hurting you, but I'm afraid she doesn't really respect my opinion anymore.'

'You are a seventh year. All bets will be off after you are gone. And the boys will come next,' Isadora said darkly, not really thinking about what she was saying. When she realized, she looked up at Andromeda with alarm. The older girl looked very suspicious already.

'What do you know of them?' she asked.

'Nothing-' Isadora said hastily. 'Somebody told me you had cousins -two boys- and that I would have to take even more care of myself next year...'

'Why would you care about a first year?' Andromeda argued. 'You know, Isadora is not an uncommon name amongst Blacks, and I daresay it's not a common one amongst muggles, is it?'

Isadora panicked, not knowing what to say. She meant to make something up- but the truth she had been forced to guard for three long years was fighting to come out.

But, as it always did, her tongue started to burn. She tried to go ahead despite it, but the pain became too much to bear and tears of frustration started rolling down her cheeks. Andromeda's expression softened, and her look of suspicion was replaced by one of realization.

'Open your mouth,' she said, holding her face gently and directing her wand towards Isadora's face. 'I know that curse very well. My father uses it on us when we hear things they wouldn't like to be repeated, especially when we were young. I know the countercurse now,' Andromeda explained, and Isadora felt relief from the pain. It was like a massive weight was taken off her shoulders, and she almost collapsed on the nearly frozen grass.

'Tell me the truth, Isadora.' Andromeda offered a handkerchief and placed a kind arm around her shoulders. 'Are you my half-sister?'

'No,' Isadora said between tears, and then told Andromeda everything.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

(1971)

For the reminder of her fourth year, Andromeda tried to protect her from Narcissa and other Slytherins, but her relationship with muggleborn Ted Tonks had made her an enemy of all her former friends, and it made everyone Andromeda protected even bigger targets. Ted had ended up in the hospital wing at least twice, because Slytherin seventh and sixth years kept ganging up on him. Some Hufflepuffs started arranging for a guard of honor to accompany the star-crossed lovers everywhere, and Isadora enjoyed her status as Andromeda's (secret) little cousin and being on the margins of such a love story. But Andromeda and Ted fled to freedom in the night their NEWTS were over, and Narcissa caught up with Isadora the next day. She bore the mark of her Stinging Hex for the whole summer. The only thing Isadora's father said to it was that she should have kept away from Andromeda and that she'd better do so from then on. Janey took Isadora to visit Andromeda and Ted to their flat in East London the very next day, with a look of defiance Izzie had never seen in her mother's eyes before.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

A week after they had gone back to Hogwarts, Narcissa came looking for Isadora. She caught her in a dark hallway near the kitchens that she thought Slytherins didn't know about. Andromeda had polished Isadora's knowledge of curses and countercurses over the summer, but she knew that it really wasn't up to par to Narcissa's. Luckily, somebody interrupted them.

'What are you doing, Cissy?' said with surprising force a dark haired first year. Isadora almost fainted. She had gotten a glimpse of Sirius Black when he'd been Sorted to Gryffindor and had run to the Owlery to write to Andromeda that her half-brother was not a Slytherin, but she hadn't even seen him since then.

'Go away, Sirius, this is my private business,' said Narcissa menacingly. 'Aren't you supposed to be up the seventh floor, anyway, or wherever Gryffindor Tower is?'

'We were looking for the kitchens, Peter got hungry,' he said, pointing to other three boys that were behind him, looking with concern to the two older girls with the wands out. 'Isn't this the girl Andromeda told you to leave alone?'

'I think you should all leave, the kitchens are the other way,' Isadora said quickly, shepherding the four boys away from Narcissa's cold fury.

'Don't talk to me about Andromeda!' she screamed at Sirius. 'You are not supposed to talk about her anymore – she's dead to us all!'

'She wrote to congratulate me on being a Gryffindor,' Sirius said haughtily. 'And she said that I wasn't to be mean to a fifth year from Hufflepuff named Isadora that all of you are always mean to!'

Narcissa looked at Isadora with more anger that she had ever seen.

'Go away!' she told the boys, and the other three wrestled Sirius away despite his protests.

'Andromeda is MY sister!' Narcissa screamed, shooting her first curse, which Isadora reflected with some difficulty. 'You don't get to talk to her when I can't!' she continued, almost in hysterics. 'STAY AWAY FROM US, AND FROM SIRIUS TOO!'

'It's you who never stays away from me!' Isadora complained trying to fight back, but Narcissa had already got her with another Stinging Hex.

It was fortunate that the boys had been surprised by a teacher, who they had directed to the dark little hallway where Isadora and Narcissa were dueling. Narcissa got three months detention for her vicious Stinging Hex. Isadora had a feeling that the longer Narcissa's detention, the worse it would be for her.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

Two months into her fifth year, Isadora found herself in love with Aaron Smith. It was a bit dramatic, like Andromeda and Ted; he was from a rich pureblood family, but unlike the Blacks, they seemed a lot less preoccupied about blood purity. Aaron was handsome and a sixth year, and Isadora had never heard him say the word 'mudblood'. She'd even heard his sister Judith outragedly docking points from a younger student who had said it. Aaron was also all sympathies and smiles, and when he invited her to Hogsmeade, Isadora was over the moon.

Their date went well, despite the snide comments made by some of Narcissa's pureblood friends from the next table at The Three Broomsticks. After a few weeks of holding hands in the hallways and kissing behind statues, Aaron confessed that his family didn't really approve of Isadora, considering her below his class. Isadora then confessed to her boyfriend the identity of her father. His solemn promise to not let anyone outside of his own family know about it didn't extend to Judith, who told Ernest Macmillan, who told Rosemary Moon, who told Amelia Arden, Narcissa's best friend.

A week later, Isadora landed in the hospital wing with horns, beaver teeth, reversed knees, three marks of Stinging Hexes and the nastiest case of pustules Madam Pomfrey had ever seen. She didn't name her attackers, knowing it wouldn't help her, and with Narcissa conveniently still in detention and with the perfect alibi, nobody was accused and not a single point was docked. And what was worse, Professor Sprout gave her a lecture on the consequences of lying about such grave matters as one's paternity. Isadora didn't know if Sprout was telling her to keep her mouth shut in order to survive, or if she actually believed that Isadora would make something like that up.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

Isadora saw Andromeda again for Boxing Day. She and Ted had invited Isadora and Janey over for tea to their new flat.

'Ooh, this is just like those Thamesmead flats, isn't it?' Janey said, looking around impressed. 'But it's not council owned, is it?'

'No, it actually belongs to one of Andromeda's aunts,' Alice, Ted's mum, explained. 'She's renting it to them for a very low price.'

'You must be so happy to see them get their own place and be out of your hair, aren't you?' Janey teased. Alice and Janey had gotten along marvelously from the moment they had discovered that both had been evacuated to neighboring villages during the war and they had lots of stories and gossip in common.

'Thank you for inviting us,' Isadora told Andromeda, accepting a cup of tea from her. 'It's so nice to see you again!'

She didn't mean to sound teary, but something in her tone betrayed her.

'Is Narcissa being a bitch to you?' Ted asked, and Andromeda elbowed him.

'No more than usual,' Isadora lied, though not very well. 'So who's this aunt that's helping you? Narcissa keeps saying that you are dead to them all.'

'Yes, well, I'm not the only one a bit rebellious,' Andromeda smiled. 'My Great-Aunt Cassiopeia had a great affair with a muggle soldier during Grindelwald's War, so she decided to help us secretly. She's the one who got us into training at Saint Mungo's.'

Last time Isadora had seen Andromeda and Ted, she was selling muggle make-up door to door and he was trying to learn to fix cars in a nearby garage.

'She's not the only one, either,' Ted said. 'Tell her where we spent Christmas.'

'Oh, yes, another great-aunt, one of Cassiopeia's sisters, actually, married a Potter,' Andromeda explained. 'The Potters are terrible blood traitors but highly regarded, so Aunt Dorea more or less does what she pleases, and the family cannot complain. She had us over for Christmas, and she extended the invitation to Ted's mum when we told them we didn't want to leave her on her own.'

'They were all very nice,' Alice said. 'Mr. Potter is a true gentleman, this was the first time I spoke with a wizard that didn't make me feel like a silly child.'

'Oh, I know what you mean,' Janey sighed.

'And I didn't tell you the best bit!' Andromeda jumped excitedly. 'Dorea has a son who is in Sirius' dormitory and they are great friends, apparently. I'm hoping he will be a good influence, and Dorea said that they might try to invite him over some day- Aunt Walburga can hardly say no to her- and they'll have us over too!'

'That sounds wonderful,' Isadora answered, looking sideways at her mother, who'd gone pale to the mention of Walburga Black.

'And what did you do for Christmas?' Alice asked politely.

'Oh, we didn't do much yesterday, we never do,' Janey said. 'We usually spend the 25th by ourselves, having some pudding and watching a bit of telly, pulling a cracker or two. But Arthur came over on the 24th, as usual.'

'She means my father,' Isadora explained immediately. 'We are supposed to call him by his middle name.'

'His middle name is Arcturus,' said Andromeda, frowning. 'Oh, it's Anglicized. I suppose that makes sense.'

'Oh, Orion's such a silly name, I'd much rather call him Arthur,' Janey said dreamily. 'We had a nice meal, he's always such a dear and so generous to us, isn't he, Izzie?'

'Sure, mum,' Isadora said, slightly embarrassed.

'He gave me a new sewing machine, top of the line,' Janey said in a loud, cheerful tone, to Andromeda's amazement. 'And he bought Izzie a beautiful gold bracelet -that one she's wearing- and a book full of patterns for wizarding clothes, because I told him she's been sewing for some of the girls at Hogwarts - and a lot of fabric, as well!'

'Wow,' Andromeda said dryly. 'I can't quite imagine Uncle Orion buying a muggle sewing machine. He'll have us all believe he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a toaster and a fridge!'

Isadora saw that Alice realized the tension her mother seemed blissfully unaware of, and invited her to see the kitchen appliances the flat was fitted with.

'Your mother didn't seem quite so fond of him last July,' Ted commented.

'She wasn't,' Isadora admitted, putting the empty tea cup in the coffee table. 'She used to be angry at him because he never seemed to care about the way you- well, your sisters, mostly- were always treating me. I think he's been coming 'round a lot more lately.'

'Has he always given you muggle things and the like?' Andromeda asked angrily.

'Well, he usually goes on and on about how inferior everything muggle is, but yes,' Isadora admitted. 'That's the way it's always been. Loads of gifts and money.'

'I can't believe he's such a hypocrite,' Andromeda said, walking angrily to the window. She took a pack of fags out of her pocket and lighted one, blowing out the smoke against the glass with fury. Isadora sat speechless at her cousin's unexpected outburst. 'He was very clear about me never setting foot in his house again for daring to marry a muggleborn, and then he goes and has bastards with muggle women and gives them sewing machines for Christmas?'

'Calm down, 'Dromeda!' Ted said, alarmed. 'Isadora and Janey are not at fault here, you shouldn't take it out on them!'

'I know, I'm sorry, Izzie,' Andromeda said immediately, turning away from the window. 'I didn't mean to be so rude,' she exhaled more smoke. 'But I can't understand it. I don't think I've never even seen him take that much of an interest on the boys! The bracelet is exactly his type of gift, but the book and the fabric? I'm sure he doesn't know anything about Sirius' or Regulus' interests!'

Isadora's cheeks were burning, but she managed to retort:

'He's always talking about the boys! And how he takes an interest in their education and how good he's sure they'll turn out. He's made it clear that he takes care of us, and expects us to love him in return, but that his place is with them, not us.'

'Judging by the way your mother speaks about him, it's like he's a complete different person with you two than he is with the rest of the family,' Andromeda finished, because Alice and Janey were back from the kitchen, and they all started praising Andromeda and Ted's fireplace.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

Andromeda's words stayed in Isadora's mind and kept her up at night. Her cousin had sent her an apologetic letter, but in reality it only showed Andromeda's deep resentment towards Izzie's father. Orion, she wrote, had gone on and on at the dinner table about the dangers of crossbreeding with people of blood less pure than theirs for the entirety of Andromeda's life. She obviously felt it was unfair that she had been cut off from the family for doing practically the same thing he had done.

Isadora thought Andromeda was right. Orion kept up a double standard she couldn't understand. To his family, he was a typical pureblood wizard. To his mistress and daughter he was someone else entirely. Andromeda said she'd grown up hearing stories about how muggles were little more than animals, and it had taken getting to know Ted and being extensively educated by him and his friends to change her mind. How on Earth had Orion, the scion of the House of Black, ended up with a muggle girl like Janey?

There was only one person she could ask.

'How did you and Dad meet?' Isadora asked the night before New Year's Eve. Janey looked up from her tea surprised, and blushed.

'It wasn't very special. We met in a nightclub,' she said, carefully avoiding her daughter's eyes. Isadora snorted in disbelief.

'What was he doing in a muggle nightclub?' she asked. Janey sighed and moved uncomfortably on her chair.

'Well, I'm not sure you're old enough, but I'd rather tell you the truth now than lie.' Janey pushed her plate of baked beans away and faced her daughter. 'It wasn't odd for chaps like your dad to show up with their friends to the kind of nightclubs my friends and I used to frequent. Rich boys like that sometimes came looking for girls who… who might give them what their posh fiancées were not quite ready to give them. '

Isadora felt herself blush almost as much as her mum.

'And we… well, we fooled ourselves into believing they might fall in love with us, and rescue us from our boring jobs, turn us into ladies or duchesses.' Janey sighed with a melancholic smile. 'The girls were always talking about some girl they'd heard who had ended up married and in a stately home.'

'And one day your dad came in with a group of his friends. They were odd and talked nonsense, but he was so shy and sweet,' Janey smiled, with a nostalgic look in her eyes. 'I got pregnant two months later.'

'Did you know he was married?' Isadora asked. Janey's dreamy expression sobered, as it did every time she was reminded of Walburga Black.

'Not at first, but he told me he was engaged to his cousin before I knew about you. He had to marry Walburga out of family expectations, and if he wasn't a Black…' Janey stopped suddenly. 'Walburga never made your dad happy,' she said, forceful, as if she was trying to convince Isadora. 'We are the ones who do that.'

The atmosphere had been ruined by the mention of Walburga, and Isadora didn't quite dare to keep questioning her mother. The more she found out, the less she could reconcile her dad with the man Andromeda told her about; the man who had a half-blood daughter yet despised Andromeda's marriage to a muggleborn.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

(1972)

Isadora saw her father again on the day after New Year's. She paid extra attention to the attitudes Andromeda had spoken of, and his inborn superiority was always there, yes, but not the violent dislike of his nieces and the rest of the teenagers of his social class. Isadora attempted to question him as inconspicuously as she could.

'I've been having a go at mum's machine,' she said casually. 'It's the best I've ever seen.'

'We are so very grateful, Arthur,' Janey added.

'But I'm intrigued, how did you know which one to buy?' Isadora added herself. 'Most of the wizards at school wouldn't be able to tell a sewing machine from an electric kettle!'

'You are right, Isadora, I probably wouldn't,' he nodded with a small smile. 'There's a fellow who works as a scribe for the Wizengamot who has a sister who married a muggle. I gave him a few extra galleons to have his brother-in-law run some errands. It's an unsavory connection, but he collaborates with the Bureau of Muggle Relations, so I guess it has its uses.'

Isadora was wondering how to ask about the blatant inconsistency between having a muggle run errands being 'unsavory' but keeping a muggle mistress being all right, when her father continued:

'But you shouldn't be using that machine, Isadora, you are a witch! You have better tools at your disposal. I understand witches will always prefer magically fitted robes to any other. I think it's very good of you to be thinking of a trade.'

'Of a trade?' her mother asked suddenly. 'You are talking of her bending at a workshop's table all day to please a sadist who'd rather your fingers fall off than have less than perfect buttonholes -' she sighed with fury, but then her tone changed drastically to a plea: '- That's what I used to do before I met you, and you know how unhappy I was! I don't want Izzie doing that. She deserves better, Arthur!'

'Is there anything else you'd like to do, Isadora?' her father asked in a tone that clearly conveyed he was asking just to please Janey.

'Actually, no,' Isadora confessed. 'I love making clothes. I really don't want a Ministry job.'

'There you see, Janey,' he said. 'But there's no need for her to work as a dependent all her life... she'll have to apprentice for a few years, of course, but she could have her own establishment.'

Mother and daughter looked at each other with bright eyes.

'Her own establishment? And you would help her, Arthur?' Janey asked in a whisper.

'Certainly. It wouldn't be in London or Hogsmeade -it should be a small business in a smaller wizarding district- but it would be quite possible, yes.'

Isadora almost laughed of pure delight. All the doubts she had experienced were, for the moment, gone.

'And I assume you are thinking of leaving school after your OWLs, to start your apprenticeship as soon as possible,' her father said. Isadora gaped for a moment.

'I-I think it would be best, yes. That's what Professor Sprout told me.'

'It is settled, then,' her father said. 'I'll speak with Professor Slughorn and make sure Professor Sprout can get you the apprenticeship you want- go to her the first day of classes. You need to decide who you will be studying under.'

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

'Morning,' a boyish voice said. Isadora looked up from her breakfast to find a smiling Sirius across the nearly empty Hufflepuff table. He was kneeling on the sitting bench with his elbows on the table as if he was about to tell her a secret.

She looked around - there were a few teachers up in the High Table, and some Ravenclaw Quidditch players trying to stuff some toast into their mouths before being dragged off to early morning practice. It was a Saturday, thankfully, so it seemed that there were no Slytherin purebloods around.

'Morning,' she returned. Sirius smiled and took a piece of bacon from her plate.

'You've been seeing Andromeda, haven't you?' Sirius asked in a low voice.

'Who told you that?' Isadora asked nervously.

'My friend James. He said Andromeda spent Christmas at his house and he told her about you and Narcissa. She also said you were her friend,' Sirius said very quickly, and Isadora sighed with relief. 'Do you write to her?'

'Sometimes,' she confessed. 'Would you like me to pass some message along?' Sirius nodded enthusiastically.

'My parents made me swear not to send her any letters,' he explained. 'Can you tell her at least that, for now?'

'Can't you disobey them?' she asked in a mischievous tone, lowering her voice.

Sirius shook his head. 'I'd get blisters,' he said dismissively, to Isadora's shock. 'Can you tell her, please?'

'I'll even ask her if she knows the countercurse,' she promised. Sirius smiled. He had the same devilish-charm sort of smile their dad had.

'Do you like being a Gryffindor?' she asked him. Sirius retreated and sat on the bench.

'I do, but my family doesn't very much,' he said. 'Although they like that I'm friends with James, because his mother is my mother's aunt. I don't think they like each other, though. I had never met her before.'

'I'm sure they'll get used to it,' Isadora said, trying to assure him, but Sirius shook his head.

'I'm going to be the head of the family someday, so I was supposed to be in Slytherin. They say Gryffindor will corrupt me,' he said with perfect seriousness. Isadora was strongly reminded of Aaron's speech, when he gave her the slip. 'I hope it will.'

She didn't know whether to say that she hoped that too or what else, when somebody cleared her throat.

'Go back to your own table, Sirius, or I'll tell your parents you've been talking to Andromeda's friends,' Narcissa said in a commanding voice.

'I won't,' Sirius said rebelliously. 'You'll hit her with a Stinging Hex again.'

'With the High Table full of teachers?' she said. Isadora turned to look - McGonagall and Sprout were there, eyeing them all suspiciously. 'I just want to talk to her. In private.'

Isadora nodded to Sirius, and he walked off to his table with the air of a child who'd just been ordered to his room. Narcissa took his spot in front of her. She didn't have the predatory look she usually had when about to curse her, but Isadora couldn't imagine what she wanted to talk about.

'You've been seeing Andromeda, haven't you?' she asked.

'I don't know who told you that,' Isadora said coldly.

'Don't pretend,' Narcissa said with a disbelieving laugh. 'I believe the rumors. I've been watching you. Why would Andromeda become such good friends with you last year? You weren't a friend of her mudblood boy.'

Isadora's heart raced. An inquiry about Andromeda, she could have believed, but about her?

'I don't know what you're on about,' she said.

'I told you not to pretend. Don't tell me you don't know why you got cursed last term. I thought it was a lie, at first, to try and trap Aaron Smith,' Narcissa said, watching Isadora carefully. 'But then I watched you - you have my uncle Orion's little satisfied smile, and a bit of the Black drawl when you speak. Where else could you have picked that up?'

Isadora was speechless.

'Not to mention,' she continued, grabbing Isadora's hand to inspect the bracelet she was wearing, 'where would a mudblood like you get the money to buy wizarding jewelry? And not just any wizarding jewelry- this is a Garnet Mayer, my uncle bought me a set of hairpins by him for Christmas. Do you think he bought them the same day?'

Clearly, Narcissa wasn't reacting like Andromeda had, with sudden comprehension and respect for their familial bond. There was no telling what Narcissa would do with this information if it all came to light. What would her dad say?

'I want you to tell Andromeda to come back,' Narcissa said in a lower, desperate tone. 'Tell her to leave that mudblood scoundrel and come back to her family.'

She seemed to expect an answer, and Isadora struggled to think of one.

'I don't...'

'Please,' Narcissa interrupted her. It seemed that neither girl was expecting that. 'Make her,' she pleaded.

'I don't think she'll listen,' Isadora confessed.

'If she doesn't come back this summer, I'll make sure your sixth year is hell on earth,' Narcissa threatened. Isadora almost smiled.

'I have to go.' She got up, grabbed her things and left the Great Hall. In fifteen minutes, she had to travel by Floo to Gladrags Wizardwear and show Madam Michaela some of her work as a seamstress before she agreed to take her on as an apprentice in July.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~

Isadora left school not sailing across the Black Lake in the same boat she had come into Hogwarts for the very first time, but on the carriages like the rest of her classmates, who were simply preparing for another summer at home, followed by another year at school. She had gotten her apprenticeship and she was starting in two weeks. To be fair, she wasn't the only one not coming back for the NEWTs. And her time at Hogwarts could have been better. But the last few months, Narcissa and her crowd had left her alone, and she and Sirius had gathered in empty classrooms and secluded corners to read Andromeda's letters. She had found that Sirius and her were very different- their upbringing so much so it was difficult to believe they shared the same father- but she had knowledge about the school and the teachers and a few useful jinxes to pass on. In turn, Sirius encouraged her to play a prank or two on the Slytherins who had made her life hell, which Isadora found terribly liberating. And now that she was going, it broke her heart to think that she might lose the half-brother whose company she'd begun to cherish, and what was more, she was missing out on the opportunity to meet Regulus.

At the very least, the last letter Andromeda had sent carried the most wonderful news; she was expecting a baby for the early days of March. Sirius and Isadora had celebrated together, and maybe, the Potters or his Uncle Alphard might take him to visit Andromeda and the baby once it was born. Maybe they'd bring Regulus sometime. She could only hope.

~·~·~·~·~·~·~·~