Author's Note: This is a thread that contains Bellatrix and Andromeda Black. On the site the sisters' ages have been modified, Andy is 17 while Bella is 16.
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Gladrags Wizardwear. Why did she go here again? Oh, right... she tore her last good robe while climbing up the tree in Hogwarts Grounds... Very smart, Andy... she thought to herself, cringing slightly.
The situation did call for it, though, and Andy wasn't one to back down from such things as climbing trees. Granted, she wasn't a tomboyish person, and she almost fell a couple of times going up, but it was worth it. Marmalade, the pet cat of her friend Erin Grace, was saved from certain harm by her being up in the tree.
Andromeda fingered one of the hanging black robes near the back of the establishment, and wondered how much it'd cost. It didn't matter, of course, because she'd have money to pay for it, but only now did she stop and think... how much money am I just going to toss around today?
Humanitarian thoughts, certainly not alien in the 'bloodtraitor' mind of the Ravenclaw. She'd been born a Black, but there the reputation ends. She wasn't a pureblood fanatic like Bella was slowly becoming, or an icy socialite like Cissa. She was just... normal, a state of being she hoped people would just accept in her. They never did, though, expecting her to be something, or someone.
My, aren't we waxing philosophical today... she thought to herself ruefully, shaking her head. It was no matter. Today was for buying a new robe to replace her torn one, and nothing else.
Andy scoured through the robes some more, looking for one that fit. The endless rows of black robes made her dizzy though, and finally she just picked two at random and went to the fitting booth to try it on. These will have to do... she thought, looking at herself in the mirror.
"It looks very beautiful, Madam..." the mirror complimented, and Andy blushed before waving her hand. "Nah, it's just a black robe. I think I'll be taking these."
She swung her head and pushed the door open, and just suddenly goggled.
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Hogsmeade. Bellatrix wasn't the surest of why she liked coming here, but it was probably because she had nothing else to do. Being holed up in the castle could only be taken for so long before she just had to get out, be free, and maybe... spend a little bit of money at the same time. Though as the sixth year walked down the streets of Hogsmeade, nothing was really catching her eye. The stores of course all looked grand. Nothing however made Bella want to actually walk into any of them. The only store she had managed to fall victim to was the sweets shop. She was now armed with chocolate and dangerous.
As she continued walking she noticed Gladrags Wizardwear. She really wasn't in the need for a new robe, not for at least the next ten years, but it didn't hurt to look right? Bellatrix loved the feel of new fabrics on her skin. Preferably soft, silky fabrics. They were of course on the more expensive end... but what did it matter? Her family could afford it. You couldn't have a Black walking around in nothing but peasant wear. What would her family think if they saw her walking around in plain black robes. That would just be a horrid sight. Not that she didn't own any black robes, they were just made from fine fabrics.
In to the store she went, a small bell rang announcing her presence. She wrinkled her nose slightly as she noticed the store did not really get anything new in since the last... however many times she's been here. Their merchandise hasn't changed much in the last six years. Though she supposed that made sense. Not everyone could afford what the Black family could. That and there were a bunch of students at Hogwarts. It just isn't practical to wear certain kinds of robes to class. Not that they would let you at the school. The Slytherin had tried to convince her professors several times that the work robes they had to buy just weren't nice enough. They were never very happy with her words.
Going to a nice set of purple robes, the young woman put a hand to the fabric. It was nice, though not that nice. Something she would probably find on one of the less fortunate Slytherins during a party of some sort. She breathed a small sigh and contined her search for the best set of robes in the store. Though as she continued her search, she heard a muffled voice coming from the changing rooms. 'It looks very beautiful, Madam'. While hearing that, Bella couldn't help but snort a little. How pathetic was it that someone needed a mirror to tell them they looked good in something. She always knew she looked good.
Hearing the dressing room door open, Bellatrix stole a small peek in the direction of the now closing door. That looked like... it couldn't be. Andromeda wouldn't be shopping here for real would she? Coming out from behind the rack that had been blocking her view, Bella saw that it was indeed her sister. And... ew. She had a set of plain black robes in her arms. Why in the world did her sister find it necessary to torment the family like that. Shaking her head softly, Bella came a bit closer to her sister, all the while picking up the purple robes she had eyed before.
"Now Andy, don't you think these would look much nicer on you than those... ratty things?" Bellatrix purred at her sister. Bella and Andy seldom agreed an almost anything anymore, but the sixth year had still not given up hope that her sister would come back into the right. She had all these crazy ideas about mud-bloods and muggle filth. It just wasn't right.
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"Bella!" she exclaimed, her eyes shocked. Andy had not expected her sister here, even knowing her sister's love for expensive clothes. Just another thing Bella and Cissa shared... that she did not. It didn't matter... she thought to herself. Andy had long accepted that she wasn't like her sisters and would never be like them. However, that didn't mean she had to argue with them at all times. Bella was being civil now, and she should reply likewise.
"Now Andy, don't you think these would look much nicer on you than those... ratty things?"
Andromeda looked at the robes her sister pointed out. The robes looked plush and expensive, quality fabric for sure. It was a lot like the robes she had torn, robes bought by her mother during the hols. Their mother had despaired of Andy's bad habit of ruining her robes, and yet couldn't see her daughter wearing anything cheap. Just like Bella here.
"No, Bella, I'd just rather these, thank you. We need to save money, you know, and I ruin so many black robes..." Even to herself, the words sounded false. Andromeda sighed fitfully, and picked up one of the simple looking robes. "I'll try one, alright?" she said, wanting to be at least in alright terms with her sister right now. Andromeda turned and went back inside the fitting room.
Shoving off the simple black robe she wore, Andromeda carefully put on the plush purple robe, noting how soft and rich it felt. She sighed, then turned to face the mirror. It was beautiful, as she had expected. Green was not her favorite color, but it does look quite good on her... especially with her slightly tanned skin. Beautiful alright, but she could just imagine her friends looking at her right now and laughing at her.
In truth, Andromeda did not mind other people's opinions, just those of the ones she cared about. And they wouldn't care what she wore really, but would find it extremely funny. Andy grinned to herself, and looked back at the plain ordinary black robes.
Even at the cost of my sisters ire... Yes. I'd like to be normal, and not a Black, thank you. Andy was extremely thankful her sister couldn't read her thoughts. They might be having a row now if she could.
Andromeda went out of the fitting room, and put the expensive robe back onto the rack. "No, Bella.. I think I'd rather these."
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Save money? Ruining her black robes? Who cared? For one, they certainly didn't need to worry about saving money. Two, what does it matter if you ruin anything, you can just buy another set. Her words didn't sounds completely believable however. There was something in Andromeda's voice that made Bella feel that way. With that, she saw her sister picking up a set of robes and saying that she would try them on. That was a start, a small smile spread over the Slytherin's mouth. She was sure to want them as soon as she put them on. Especially considering what she was wearing lately. Yes, Bellatrix had indeed been paying attention and it saddened her. But now that her sister was trying on a nice set of robes, she was sure not to go back. Who would want scratchy fabric against their skin if they didn't have to.
Bella made a small sigh after her sister had been gone for a few moments. She was taking absolutely forever. Why was she taking so long? It didn't take that long to try on a robe did it. Not to mention that when Bella was trying things on she usually took three times as long. She also noticed that the mirror had decided to keep quiet. It must have realized exactly who was in the fitting room and that it shouldn't be speaking at all. Good, at least some things knew their place in this world, if only her sister would be one of them.
Bella's delicate foot began to tap ever so slightly as she hung the robe in her hands over a rack and crossed her arms in front of her chest. One more minute and she would burst down the door. Patience was obviously a virtue that had been lost on this girl. Though as she was about to throw herself at the entrance to the dressing room, she could see Andromeda emerging. Finally. Though her sister did do something unexpected, she put the robe... back. She didn't want it? How could she prefer something so plain over the one she had tried on? Couldn't she see that it was better?
"But why?" Bella said, not being able to contain it. A slight exasperated tone could be heard in her voice. She couldn't help it. She was trying to be nice and here was her sister. No, I don't want nice things cause that would make me like you. Well what was so wrong with that. Bella was a nice girl, she had varying interests. She wasn't as bad as her sister thought she was. Just because she thought mudbloods and muggle filth shouldn't be allowed to do magic shouldn't have anything to do with it.
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"But why?"
Bella's perplexed tone sent a shiver of foreboding down Andy's spine. Her sister was not going to like her answer, and Andy was quite versed with Bella's quicksilver moods. Goodbye nice afternoon… she thought to herself. Unthinkingly, she clutched the ordinary black robes even more close to her chest.
"It's not that I don't want the nice things, Bella. But they are just too fine, and it's quite unsuitable for the everyday things that I do. Besides, I don't even use the robes all that much anymore."
Bad answer! Andy's eyes widened, and she tried vainly to hide her surprise. Bella was sure to ask about that statement, but it was Andy's most guarded secret – she had gone out to Muggle London. With people Bella would most definitely not approve of.
That day was a blast, though… she thought wistfully. Andy had been to most parts of Wizarding Europe, and had seen the sights. But Muggle London was by far … so so different. There were cars, streaming down the road, honking their horns loudly, so impatient to get by. Her first trip in a car, Brody couldn't get her to keep her head inside, it was just so cool!
She didn't go that far, of course, and they were back in Hogwarts by sundown. She imagined Headmaster Dumbledore was surprised by her request to go out, yet he had agreed to it… probably thanking the high heavens that there was a person in the Black family who wasn't so antagonized by Muggles, Muggleborns and Muggle sympathizers. Andy stared at Bella's exasperated face, and thought sadly of all the wonderful things she couldn't share with her. Why couldn't she think differently? If she'd seen what I saw… we're not so different. And Muggleborns are probably the luckiest people in the world, being able to experience both worlds at the same time. she thought.
"What I mean is… er… you know how active I am. And robes just get in the way." It was lame, very lame. But there was some truth in it, and hopefully it would mask the somehow false tone of her comeback. Andy was active, because the classes she excelled in were usually the outdoors ones and not the ones that needed indoor studying. Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures were her best subjects, followed closely by her Quidditch practices. Well, Quidditch wasn't exactly a subject, but it was something she excelled in too.
DADA and Potions… suffice it to say she was getting tutoring lessons from a fifth year Gryffindor. And that was how clueless she was. Andy freely admits that the monsters they study in DADA terrify her, especially the Boggart. Her most secret fear come to life was not a thing for study, it was a thing to hide! And Potions. She had ruined some of her best robes in Potions, having mixed up the ingredients countless times. It was a wonder she was in Ravenclaw, really.
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Bella had been prepared. She had an answer for almost anything her sister could come up with. Almost. But not using robes. She had distinctly said, 'I don't even use the robes all that much anymore'. A momentary flash of her sister running around naked about the grounds flashed through her head, and was quickly gone. If she wasn't wearing robes, what could she possibly be covering her body with... And then her eyes widened with the realization of her sisters words. She was wearing their clothes too. Wasn't she. Anger started to well up in Bellatrix. Her sister was being utterly and completely changed. The girl she had once known was being replaced by a... a... muggle. At least that was what Bella was starting to feel. She liked everything about them, she was even dressing up like them. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. maybe that wasn't what Andromeda had meant. Maybe she really was running around naked. Somehow Bella seemed to like the idea of that more than the total transformation of the sister she had once love so dearly, and still did.
"Well, if you aren't wearing robes, what are you wearing? Andy?" Her questioning tone hid the anger that she had felt moments before. She needed her question to be answered. Though she already knew what she was going to hear. Now she couldn't determine how she would react. Would she stay and fight her sister about it, knowing that it was too late? Or should she just leave. It was obvious that Andromeda didn't want anything to do with the Black family. Was Bella really still trying all of this in vain? "Andy... what are you wearing?"
She wasn't sure why she repeated the question once more, all she knew was that she did. Scared to hear the answer and yet desperately yearning for it. They weren't really all that different, Andy and herself. They both had the same feelings, moved the same way, and both had things they were prepared to fight for. So how had they ended up in completely different boats. What had made her sister so different from herself. It was almost like night and day.
"Actually, don't. Don't answer, I don't want to know. ... I miss my sister," there was evidence of pained sadness in Bella's voice as she spoke those last words. The feeling was covered up as soon as it had come by the paper thin mask Bella used to hide a lot of her emotions. She stood there a moment more before she turned away and headed outside the shop. She couldn't be in there anymore.
Back out on the streets of Hogsmeade Bella turned towards the castle, though a moment later turned around and headed deeper into the small town. She didn't want to go back to the castle right now. All that was there were reminders of exactly what was going on.
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"Actually, don't. Don't answer, I don't want to know. ... I miss my sister."
Bella's mask had fallen away, revealing the person Andy knew was inside this cold masquerade her sister had been channeling ever since she determined her own version of 'right' and 'wrong'. She didn't want to answer the question, to shatter this moment. Andy hasn't seen this side of Bella ever since they were children, and somehow she wanted to preserve this long-awaited vision of Bella-the-person.
Unfortunately, as soon as she opened her mouth, Bella's mask came again and Andy shut her mouth. They stared at each other one more time, and then Bella turned and left.
Andy felt tears come into her eyes, but she gulped once and tried to banish them, the way Cygnus had always demanded of her whenever he saw her 'blubbering again'. She had always been an easy crier, a 'watering pot' according to the other Blacks. An anomaly. There were times when she wished she was more cold, more something, just so she could fit in, but when she realized the truth -- that the Blacks were wrong, in what they preached and lived -- her own moral code couldn't let her change.
And so there it was. She was alone in Gladrags, swallowing the tears forming in her eyes, and slowly walked to the cashier. The man looked at her kindly, but didn't speak, only handed her a white handkerchief. Andy touched her cheeks... And I have failed again... she thought when wetness met her fingers