Notes: This story is the product of the advice of a friend, who suggested that, since I wouldn't shut up about my ideas for the courtship of Andromeda and Ted Tonks, I should just write them down. This is the first multi-chapter fic I've done in several years. Chapter titles will be kept simple and to the point. I will also try to keep the chapters themselves short and to the point to make it easier for the reader to find a good stopping point (unlike in my previous multi-chapter fics, which featured 30-page chapters). The story will concern Andromeda's final year at Hogwarts but will periodically feature "interludes" taking place during the Harry Potter era, so just watch the dates at the start of new chapters. I'm trying to keep everything as close to what we have as canon as possible, including dates for Andromeda's life. I want to present her as still being part of her family superficially but having a great deal of internal doubt. All comments are welcome and appreciated, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.
For further enticement, the following characters will feature throughout this story: Andromeda Black, Ted Tonks, Frank and Alice Longbottom (prior to their marriage), Narcissa Black, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Walberga, Orion, Alphard, Cygnus and Druella (Rosier) Black.
Chapter 1: Boarding
August, 1970
Andromeda Black was not beautiful. At sixteen she had yet to develop what she felt would be a desirable body—she lacked both the voluptuous qualities of women in the magazines that sometimes circulated through the boys' dormitories at night and the lean, toned physique of one of the girls on the Quidditch teams. Her hair, like her mother's and her mother's before her, was black and long and without much curl. Her eyes were unremarkably dark. The sharp features of her family were written on her face but she lacked the grace to wear them properly—her eyes were too large to seem beautifully haughty like Bella's, her nose not quite thin enough to look elegant, and her lips were constantly pulled in an expression that made her look uncertain rather than severe. When she smiled a single dimple appeared in her left cheek.
She attempted to make up for her physical shortcomings with material additions. Her dresses—always the rich, dark colors that her family prized and that so complemented her complexion—were kept perfectly clean and she was sure to never miss a button or leave a ribbon untied, and she maintained her school robes similarly. What little jewelry she wore was polished to a brilliant shine; if a diamond or gemstone went missing from a ring, she simply discarded it. She kept the front of her hair pinned back with a large emerald barrette, a gift from her mother when she had been placed in Slytherin House. She alternated between a pair of sleek velvet shoes and impeccably shined boots.
Because of her elaborate tastes in clothes and accessories, she boarded the train carrying much more than was typically allowed. The Black girls had always carried some luggage aboard—after all, their mother reminded them every year, there were no standards for the men who would load their trunks and bags onto the train, they might be Mudbloods or even Squibs and might do any number of unspeakable things to a pureblood woman's personal items—but for her seventh and final year Andromeda had brought enough dresses and books to clothe and educate a small army. She was saved from embarrassment only by Narcissa, now entering her fifth year, who dragged aboard half her worldly possessions, requiring half a compartment for them alone.
"Put your things in with mine," Narcissa called behind her, accidentally pushing her last trunk into Andromeda's ankles. "I'll have Lucius move them." By this, of course, she meant she have Lucius order one of the Slytherin underclassmen to drag the luggage into the compartment, and God help the poor boy who stacked the bags clumsily.
She stopped in the aisle, pressed up against a compartment door to allow other students to pass. Behind her, Narcissa refused to budge an inch. The older ones, those familiar with her temper, moved around her with a forced serpentine grace.
Lucius turned up after several awkward minutes. His pale hair had been tied back with a leather cord and a fine sheen of sweat stood out on his forehead. As a prefect, he had been charged with shepherding first-year purebloods back and forth to their compartments to prevent them from mingling with genetic inferiors.
"Andromeda." He took her hand and kissed the back of it, glancing past her at her sister. "A pleasure, as always."
She squeezed his fingers lightly before withdrawing her hand. "You've not lost your charm while you were away, I see." They had always been vaguely familiar with each other through their families' association, but it was only after Lucius had taken a romantic interest in Narcissa that they'd become more than simply acquaintances.
Lucius gave a crooked smirk and nodded to Narcissa, while a small dark-haired boy wordlessly began hauling Andromeda's luggage down the aisle. "And why should I have? The French are civilized, are they not? I trust your summer was as refreshing as mine."
Narcissa snorted.
Lucius's eyes darkened in concern. "Nothing unpleasant happened, I hope?"
Andromeda shot her sister a reproachful look. "Of course not. What Narcissa has failed to articulate is that we were simply too busy to ever feel refreshed."
"Your sister's engagement. I'd forgotten." His lips moved in an amused, haughty grin. "And how is Bellatrix?"
Andromeda almost lost her balance as a gaggle of first-years ran past. She stared after them a moment, trying to instill in them the same fear her older sister had inspired throughout her seven-year reign at Hogwarts. The children never saw her.
"Bellatrix is well," she said finally, forcing a stern expression in an attempt to regain her composure. "The wedding will be—"
Lucius held up a hand. "My family has already received the invitation." He paused to draw his wand at a young Hufflepuff who almost stepped on his shoe. Andromeda could feel Narcissa inching up behind her, anxious to settle into Lucius's compartment with him.
"Slytherin—no, Hogwarts won't be the same without Bellatrix," Lucius said finally, and he sounded not entirely remorseful. Even the pureblood Slytherins, those whose families had supported Grindelwald's regime and now secretly claimed loyalty to the new Dark Lord, had lived in reverence and even terror of Bella's penchant for the most violent of the Dark Arts.
"I'm sure we'll make do," Andromeda retorted, perhaps too curtly, for Lucius raised an eyebrow and even Narcissa turned to look at her.
The boy had finished with her luggage and returned to stare up at Lucius, half panting. Narcissa still clutched the handle of her last, small trunk. She wanted this one close to her for easy access—she refused to put on her school robes until the train arrived at its final destination, but couldn't be troubled to change with the other girls in the school bathroom before the sorting began.
Andromeda fished in her cloak for something to give the boy as payment but Lucius dismissed him with a quick pat on the shoulder. They learned to obey him quickly. The boy could have been no older than a second-year, she noted, and his deference to his upperclassman was guaranteed until Malfoy finally graduated.
Having fulfilled his courtly duty, Lucius reached for Narcissa's hand, staring at Andromeda even as he did. With Bella gone she was the eldest Black at Hogwarts and the one whose approval must be sought. When she said nothing Narcissa moved close to Lucius and beamed at her. "You can sit with us, of course."
Andromeda wrinkled her nose and tried to look offended. "You think I've nothing better to do than listen to a group of fifth-years gossip?" The couple exchanged looks and, each holding the other's hand loosely, started down the aisle toward Lucius's compartment. Narcissa gave her wand a lazy tap and the trunk followed after them.
Andromeda waited until they were out of sight and, nervous but not quite understanding why, ducked into the first empty compartment she found.
[Chapter Notes: The first paragraph is an homage to "Gone with the Wind." Couldn't resist.