Written In The Stars
My eyes snapped open as soon as the alarm went off. Jumping out of bed, I raced to my dressing table, dragged a brush through my hair and pulled on my favourite dress. I did it all myself, being too excited even to think about summoning a house elf to help me.
"I thought I heard someone jumping around," Bella chuckled, appearing at my bedroom door, her smile wide. I spun around, catching her hands in mine.
"I'm going to Hogwarts, Bella! We won't be apart anymore!"
"I know," Bella pressed the lightest of kisses to my temple, and then pulled away. "And you know what that means, Meda. From now on, you don't show emotion, at least not in public. We're the Black Princesses. We're Toujours Pur. We're above all that."
I nodded, trying not to show how her words stung. It wasn't that I hadn't heard them all before; it was just that I had never heard them from Bella's mouth before.
As if she knew that her words had hurt me, Bella reached out to touch my shoulder.
"That doesn't mean we won't be together, Meda. It doesn't even mean that we can't be us; that we can't be BellaandMeda. It just means that we'll have to be more careful about it, that's all."
"Of course." I glanced away, into my bedroom mirror, unsure what to say. All of a sudden, the moment was gone, shattered as my older sister turned for the door.
"I'd better go and wake Cissy. She'll throw a fit if she misses coming to see us off."
"That you can be sure of," I smiled, looping my sliver earrings through my ears as I spoke. A touch of eye shadow, a hint of mascara and my silver locket completed the ensemble and then I glided downstairs, my head in the clouds.
Meeting Mother in the hallway burst my bubble abruptly.
"Andromeda Honour Black! What in Merlin's name do you think you're wearing? Go upstairs and change into your robes immediately!"
Startled, I dropped into a curtsy.
"Forgive me, Mother. Since I didn't know how we were getting to King's Cross this morning, I thought it might be prudent to…"
"We're Apparating, of course. Do you really think that we would mingle with Muggle and Mudblood scum for a moment longer than necessary? I'm ashamed to call you my daughter sometimes! Go!"
Without further protest, I turned and fled up the stairs again.
By the time I returned to the dining room, plain black fitted robes swishing grandly in my wake, Bella and Cissy were both already seated at the breakfast table. Bella surveyed me critically.
"I still don't know why we can't just put you straight into your Slytherin robes. We both know you're going to be there. This pretending we don't is pointless."
"It's tradition, Bella. You of all people should know that, Miss "Toujours Pur"," I teased, sliding into the seat beside her. Cissy clambered wordlessly on to my lap and, heavy though she was, I held her for a moment before nudging her towards her own seat as Papa looked at me.
"Ah, Andromeda. Are you ready to go? You have everything packed?"
"Yes, Papa. Everything but my wand, which is in my pocket."
Satisfied by my answer, he turned back to his breakfast, leaving me free to only toy with mine. I was too excited to eat and anyway, Bella had told me enough stories about the trolley on the Express and the First Night feast at Hogwarts. Just because I didn't eat now didn't mean that I wouldn't make up for it later.
Mother complained, of course. She was always complaining about something.
"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm just too excited to eat," I confessed, keeping my eyes demurely lowered.
"Oh, let her be, Druella. I remember my first day at Hogwarts. I couldn't eat either," Papa broke in, defending me quietly but firmly. At the sound of his voice, I glanced up slightly in surprise. He hardly ever defended me against Mother. Bella, yes, because she was his first born and his favourite but not me.
Unfortunately, his defending me didn't mean that I could escape his "Family Honour" speech. The moment breakfast was over, Bella and I were escorted to his study, where we stood side by side in impatient silence as he rambled on at length.
"You're both young women now, my daughters and as such, you need to learn to take responsibility for your actions. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, never forget that the Black honour comes first. You're Members of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and you need to live up to that. I expect satisfactory reports from all of your teachers for both of you. Bellatrix, I also want you to make sure that Andromeda mingles with the right people while she's at school. One word to the contrary and I will be highly displeased. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Papa. You can rest assured that I'll make sure of it."
Papa paused for breath at my older sister's murmured response. He was just drawing himself up in order to begin again when Cissy tapped on the door and peeked in.
"Sorry to interrupt, Papa, but Mama sent me to fetch you. She says we've already gone past fashionably late."
"Is that so?" Papa strode over to Cissy and tossed her in the air, making her squeal. "Then we'd better go, hadn't we?"
Papa led Cissy from the room and Bella and I followed, exchanging relieved glances. We'd been let off lightly.
King's Cross was already packed with people when we arrived, I on Papa's left arm and my older sister on his right. There was another "crack" behind us and Mother Apparated into view, Cissy safely in her arms.
Packed it might have been, but the crowd fell back for us, parting with a respectful hush as we strode to the front of the platform. Cissy glanced delightedly at Bella and me and we couldn't help but smile. Being part of the most influential family in Wizarding Britain had its advantages.
Having reached a spot right in the centre of the platform where everyone could see us, we started to say our farewells. Papa held my shoulders and kissed me, whispering, "Write soon and remember what I told you, my dear."
Mama merely kissed me on both cheeks, every inch the icy society hostess.
The warmth in our farewells came from Cissy, who flung herself into my arms and clung to me. I held her, knowing it was going to be doubly hard for her this year. She'd never been apart from both of us before. Never. Now, as the baby of the family, she'd be on her own in our huge manor for months at a time. No wonder she was close to tears.
Trying to comfort her, I whispered, "Two years, Cissy and then you'll be coming with us. You can hold on two years, can't you? We'll be home for the holidays and we'll write. I promise."
"Every day," she demanded shakily.
"One of us," I agreed, kissing her tenderly, "and a joint owl on Sundays. But dry those eyes and go and stand with Mama for now. You're a Black Princess on show to the public, remember? Toujours Pur, Cissy. Toujours Pur."
She gave me one last squeeze and then stepped back as I curtsied to our parents, hand in hand with our older sister.
There were murmurs of astonished sympathy as we, the two eldest Black girls, showed our parents such respect and took our leave of them so formally, but as we rose, heads held high; scathingly disdainful masks firmly in place, they died away instantly.
We might only have been eleven and thirteen, but we boarded that train leaving silence in our wake.
"This way, Meda." Bella led me into a compartment where several other Slytherins, some of whom I recognised, were already sprawled across the benches.
"Rodolphus, Viola, Blaise. Livia. Leonardo. Athena. This is my younger sister, Andromeda. She's joining us at Hogwarts this year."
There was a definite note of pride in Bella's voice as she introduced me. I nodded round at them all, revelling in the way most of them were looking at me with a mixture of awe and trepidation.
"Anyway, Athena, where's your brother? Is he not coming back this term?" Bella asked, throwing herself carelessly into the corner seat. I remained standing, unsure whether I was welcome to join her circle or not.
"Risto? Oh, he's coming by carriage tomorrow morning. Some dispute over an old relative's will or something. You know how seriously he takes his duties as Father's heir."
Athena rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed by her brother.
Noticing I was still on my feet, Bella shoved Rodolphus unceremoniously.
"Move, Rod. Meda's sitting there now."
"You're going to let a First Year sit with us?" Rodolphus scoffed. "You're going soft, Bella."
Within seconds, my sister's wand was pointed at his throat. "It's Bellatrix to you, Lestrange!" she snarled, eyes flashing dangerously. "Besides, Meda's not just any First Year. She's my sister. A Black. Are you going to presume to tell a Black what to do and where to sit?"
Faced with the famous Black temper, Rodolphus grudgingly made space for me. Thanking him with a smile as sickly sweet as Cissy's, I slipped into my rightful place at my beloved sister's side.
The rest of the train ride passed swiftly and before I knew it, Bella was elbowing Blaise, prompting him to offer me his hand to help me down from the train as Rodolphus, still sour from her blunt dismissal of him earlier, extended his hand to her.
Laying my fingers gently on Blaise's sleeve, I leapt from the train, feeling a thrill go up my spine as I realised that I was standing on the platform of Hogsmeade Station.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
A sudden bellow made me jump and I looked around to find the source of the noise. A gigantic figure stood about twenty feet away, clutching a lantern and bellowing at the top of his voice. My nose wrinkled involuntarily. Ugh. What a beast.
Bella saw where I was looking and scowled. "Oaf. Ignore him, Meda. He's beneath your notice. But I'm afraid you've got to go near him. You don't want to miss the boats. He'll take you there. Dumbledore's managed to train him to do that, at least."
With a sigh, I started towards the brute, only to stop when Bella called after me.
"I'll see you at the Slytherin table!"
"Do you have any doubt of it?" I flung back, before walking over to join the rest of my year, eager to complete my journey to Hogwarts at last.