Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in here, they all belong to JK Rowling.
Andromeda's Bridge
Gather 'round people,
Wherever you roam,
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimming
Or sink like a stone
For the times they are a changin'
-Bob Dylan
Chapter One (August 30th, 1968)
Andromeda Black sat on the end of her four post bed in her bedroom, poking her school trunk with a toe. Her parents were arguing again, downstairs and she could hear her mother's voice becoming louder and louder.
"No!" her mother insisted. "This does not end like this!" Andromeda rolled her eyes at her strong willed mother's proclamation. "Strong-willed" was being kind, really – her mother was damn bossy. Druella Rosier never gave up in an argument with Cygnus Black until she won. (And she always did)
This particular argument happened to be about Andromeda's debutante ball. The ball would be held in December, during the Christmas season and her holiday's from school. It was an ancient Black family tradition for the girls to 'come out' into proper wizarding society at the age of fifteen. Apparently her mother was furious that her father wasn't willing to go to the expense of changing the floor tile in the family mansion's ballroom for the event. Andromeda's mother had a tendency to obsess about the appearance of the house to the point that certain rooms had been magically renovated at least three or four times.
"It is merely that I enjoy fine things!" Druella would cry. "And I wish my daughters to be able to enjoy so as well!"
Andromeda had absolutely no choice about whether or not she would have to be there, of course. She would have to wear a heavy, highly formal gown, look absolutely perfect, and exhibit impeccable manners for a whole evening. She would also be dragged around the Manor's parlors by her mother and be introduced to people she had no real desire to meet. They would be stuffy, very rich pureblood wizards and witches, even wealthier than her own family, because her mother would never introduce her beautiful, daughter to anyone of 'lesser means.'
Thick, straight brown hair slipped down beside her cheeks as she looked thoughtfully at the textbook in her lap. Andromeda had dark eyes like her mother. Her sister Bella also had dark eyes and was fortunate to have their mother's full lips, but their father's black hair. Andromeda, like Bella, had her mother's features except for her eyes, which were wider than her sister's, and her hair, which was a lighter shade of brown. Her father seemed to think she'd gotten her hair color from her Grandmother. Little Narcissa was lovely with their mother's golden hair and their father's shockingly blue eyes. The color was prevalent on her father' side of the family; her little cousin Sirius had eyes of the same color.
Just then, Bellatrix came running into Andromeda's room, giggling and gasping for breath. She shut the door and collapsed onto Andromeda's bed, shaking with laughter. Andromeda grinned – Bella was always sneaking around and getting into trouble, and her adventures were always good for a laugh.
"Oh Dromeda!" Bellatrix managed to gasp.
"What did you do this time, Bella?" Andromeda rolled her eyes, still grinning.
Bella bit one of her fists to keep her laughter from exploding forth from her mouth, and shook, her eyes leaking tears of glee.
"I wrote Lucius Malfoy a letter, telling him all about Cissy's crush on him and signed it with her name!"
Andromeda laughed and playfully shoved her sister. Though Bella was actually older than her, she often felt as if Bella were actually the younger, considering her sister's mischievous behavior. "Merlin, Bella! What did you do that for?"
"Because it's funny! Cissy's going to blow a fuse when she finds that her big crush already knows about her feelings, and it's only her third year at Hogwarts!"
"Yes, her first major crush and you've completely ruined all chances of her keeping it secret. What a lovely sister you can be, Bella." Despite herself, Andromeda couldn't help but giggle with Bella at her antics.
Bella shrugged, a satisfied smirk on her pretty lips, and wiped tears from her eyes.
"Well it serves her right for telling that LeStrange boy I want to snog him! As if!"
"You do though," Andromeda grinned, raising an eyebrow.
"I do not Andromeda Black," Bella wrinkled her nose. "Anyway, it ruined the whole of last year. I couldn't go anywhere without him…following me around and begging me for a date! Ugh!" she shuddered and her sister laughed.
"What's so dreadful about pitiful little Rodolphus LeStrange?"
"Exactly that!" Bellatrix wrinkled her nose. "He's pitiful, for a start! He followed me all around last year like a puppy with a Sticking charm! Also he's the worst player the Slytherin Quidditch team has! He's so scrawny that when a bludger hits him, he ends up riding the bludger!"
"Poor little Rolphy LeStrange," Andromeda feigned pouting and her sister actually laughed.
"So who do you think Mama's got her eyes on right now for you?" Bella said, tugging on her silky but wild hair, which always seemed to be charged with some kind of static. Bella, while being very pretty, was more than just a little bit of a tomboy, and to their Aunt Walburga's dismay, had tried out for Slytherin House's quidditch team and made it as a Beater (A position which Andromeda felt that her sister enjoyed far too much.) Bella had been determined to become Captain by her final year at Hogwarts, however, and this would be her final year. Andromeda had to wonder what means of blackmail Bella would resort to this fall to get her way.
"Come on Dromeda," Bella rolled her eyes, when her younger sister bit her lip and looked at her shoes. "It really isn't that awful…well…no actually, that's a lie. It really is." Bella smirked and Andromeda glared at her.
"Oh don't give me that look. It can't be as awful as Rodolphus LeSkank."
"Rodolphus really isn't that bad looking," Adromeda muttered.
Bella smiled and sat by her sister.
"Now Dromeda, you just tell me and I'll-"
"No," Andromeda groaned. "I don't want to think about it!"
"Oh come on! Mama's got good taste – he can't be that-"
"Anthony Goyle."
"Merlin's balls!" Bella leaped up from the bed, staring at her in horror, a hand on her mouth.
"I told you!" Andromeda wailed, the nausea rising in her stomach again at her sister's reaction.
"What the hell is wrong with mother?" Bella cried. "Don't worry, Dromeda. I'll try talking to her-"
"Bella don't! She'll think I put you up to it!"
"Look, I've been dealing with Mama longer than you have. Let me deal with her. I know how she works! It's all about money with her – I'll talk to her, drop some more…favorable names…"
"She'll know I said-"
"I won't even mention Goyle!" Bella held her hands up and waved them. "Don't worry Dromeda. We can fix this. Anyway, you've got plenty of time. I'm getting married first, remember?"
"True," Andromeda relaxed, though her stomach was still unsettled at the thought of Anthony Goyle.
"How about Walden Macnair?" Bella said, after an awkward silence, clearly eager to stomp any train of thought leading to her impending wedding the following summer after her graduation.
"Mama didn't even say anything about him." Andromeda wrinkled her nose. "Anyway, he's creepy. I've heard him talk about cutting up animals during dinner in the great hall. I'd sooner marry an Inferi."
Bella laughed. "He's got the brains of an Inferi!"
"Then why did you bring him up?"
"Because he's actually a bit smarter than Goyle. I think the Macnairs have more money too."
"No," Andromeda shook her head. "Actually, I think that's probably why Mama didn't mention him – his family isn't wealthy enough to suit her interests."
Bella sighed and nodded. "If I turn down Rodolphus maybe you can have him," she said, folding her arms and tapping her chin with a finger, feigning contemplation.
"Ugh!" Andromeda sat up, her face green. "No thank you!"
Bellatrix shrieked with laughter at her sister's repulsion. "What's wrong Dromeda? I thought you said he wasn't that bad looking!"
"That doesn't mean I want to spend the rest of my life with him!"
Her older sister snickered, then plopped next to her sister on the bed and rested her head on Andromeda's shoulder. "Well I suppose we're both stuck in a troubling position…But don't feel bad little one. We'll find…someone better, I'm sure."
"Define 'better,'" Andromeda said grimly.
"Well for one thing, someone with more brains than your average troll," Bella mused and Andromeda laughed. She stroked her sister's hair affectionately. She would never admit it to her sister, but she admired Bella for how strong and defiant she was, just like their mother.
"BELLA!" a scream of rage echoed throughout the Black family home. Andromeda immediately recognized the voice as their youngest sister's. Bella jumped to her feet, snickering.
"Well that's my cue to hide!"
"She's going to hex you." Andromeda grinned and rolled her eyes, delightedly taking out her new potions text. Potions happened to be Andromeda's favorite subject.
Bella winked at her and then, just to show off, Apparated to another part of the house. Bella had turned seventeen earlier that year, and had recently gotten her Apparition license.
A moment later, Narcissa knocked the door open. Andromeda's thirteen year old sister entered the room, her face red with rage, one hand holding her wand, the other crumpling a parchment with what appeared to be Lucius Malfoy's handwriting on it. Andromeda bit her lip, trying to contain her laughter. Her sparkling eyes, however, apparently gave away that she knew what was going on.
"Where is she?" It seemed Narcissa never ceased to amaze her; every day, she was more and more like their mother. Her haughty voice was almost like the teenage replica of their mother's.
"I'm afraid you just missed her Cissy. She Apparated," Andromeda raised an eyebrow and turned back to her book, amused. Emotions warred across Narcissa's pretty face, from embarrassment to fury to dejection. Her eyes finally narrowed and she held the crumpled paper up in her fist.
"I'll get her for this!" she then turned on her heel and left Andromeda's room, slamming the door behind her.
Andromeda allowed herself to laugh finally and shook her head. Years later she would look back on that upcoming school year as the year that life completely changed for her. She would remember how she'd laughed at her sister's innocent antics that day in late summer. She would remember how they were as girls, how she herself was, so unlike her mother and so wishing that she could be as strong willed, though not as high strung. Years, no decades later, she would remember the Black family as it was at that time; her sisters and cousins all young, their lives only beginning. She would remember, and she would close her eyes in regret. For she would believe, with all of her heart in later years that somehow, somehow, she could have tried harder to change the way events unfolded.
But for now, Andromeda Black was young and had no regrets, and she reclined on the comfortable pillows of her bed and read her potions text, summoning the family house elf, Pennywig, for a cup of tea. In two days time, she would be on the Hogwarts Express, heading back to school.
Reviews welcome! :)