A/N: At the end.

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Of Trains, Parents, and Dress Shopping…

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They sat together on the train for the ride to King's station. Somehow they had ended up with a compartment all to themselves, yet they sat next to each other only taking up one side of the compartment.

It was a pleasant journey, really.

The sun was shining and they weren't forced to listen to their classmates' same old stories or the promises to keep in touch that many of the girls seemed obligated to make.

Not to mention the privacy that was afforded to them, since they weren't sharing a compartment with anyone else.

Their hands were clasped together the moment they sat down and stayed that way throughout the trip.

When the train began to slow, she frowned.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"We're almost at the station."

"Don't you want to see your parents?"

"Yes, of course, but I don't want to leave you."

His forehead touched hers and he smiled at her.

"Meet me in Diagon Alley tomorrow."

"I can't. Bella's getting married tomorrow."

His eyebrow arched at this news.

"But….she just graduated…. I didn't know she had a fiancée…."

"It's an arranged marriage to Rodolphus Lestrange. Our father and his decided it quite recently."

"And your sister is okay with being sold off like a sow?"

She shrugged.

"Rodolphus is four years older than her, but she doesn't seem to mind. But….what my father says pretty much goes. He'd disown her if she refused to marry Rodolphus."

"But why marry her off? Why not let her choose her own husband?"

She bit her lip nervously.

"Is it that bad?" He asked.

"That depends on what you consider 'bad'. According to family history, the Black line is one of the oldest still in existence in the Wizarding world, a fact that my father, mother, aunt and uncle pride themselves on."

"A pureblood line?"

"Yes. No one in the family has ever married outside of pureblood society. The same is true for the Lestranges, but I don't know if they go back as far as my family. My parents believe it is important to continue to keep our family pureblooded. That's why my father wants Bella to marry into the Lestrange family."

"And does he have a fiancée in mind for you?"

"I hope not. I don't even want to imagine the kind of man my father would chose for me." She said with a shiver.

"I guess it is a safe assumption that your parents will not approve of me then." He smiled weakly.

"Why not?"

"My parents are both muggles."

He chuckled at her shocked expression.

"I never knew…..You always seemed to fit right in…."

He shrugged.

"Not always. My first year was the hardest. But after I met a few people…. I think it helped that both my parents are really supportive and are very interested in magic too."

"They weren't scared?"

He grinned.

"My mum always was fascinated by witches and wizards in stories and dragons, werewolves…everything. My dad tends to like vampires and monsters and ancient myths. When I got my letter it was like a story come to life for them. They were a bit nervous about the whole thing, because I would be so far away for school, but…."

"And it wasn't a problem?"

"Not really. We have an owl and my parents wanted me to learn. I think sometimes they wish they could do magic too. At any rate, they've always got stories to tell."

"Sounds like a fun family to grow up in."

He smiled. "I enjoyed it. Still do."

She had a nervous look on her face and she would not look him in the eye.

"You know, it doesn't matter to me if your parents don't like me because of my ancestry. It's their right to hold a prejudice if they wish and there's nothing I can do to change it. What does matter to me is what you think."

She looked up at him then.

"What I think?"

"Yes. If my being less than pureblooded is a problem for you, I think it best to know now rather than later."

"It's….it's not a problem, not for me…"

"But?"

"No buts. You're right. My family can think what they like. I see no reason to stay away from you because of your blood or mine."

"And if your family should find out?"

She took a deep breath and sighed.

"I think I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

He smiled.

"That's my girl, not thinking too far in advance."

"What about your parents? Will they have a problem with me being a pureblood?"

"My parents don't place value on that sort of thing. My dad places value on the character of a person, not the blood in their veins. And neither of them grew up with wizarding politics. Mum believes that everyone is equal, no matter how rich or poor or who their ancestors were. We're all human beings, that makes us equal."

She smiled.

"I like them already."

He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him and sighed as she looked out the window.

"What about the day after tomorrow?" He asked.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think you could meet me in Diagon Alley the day after tomorrow?"

"I…I think so. My parents shouldn't have anything for me to do. Tomorrow's the busy day, after that though, the rest of the break should be relatively free."

"How does ten o'clock sound?"

"Good to me."

"Me too." He laughed.

The train pulled into the station and came to a halt.

She was disinclined to move and so was he, for that matter.

"We should probably gather up our things." He said.

She sighed and got up, he followed suit and they collected their trunks and he picked up his owl's cage.

"Hey, Andromeda?"

"Hmm?"

"Since your parents won't approve if they see….." He said and he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

Her eyes went wide in shock.

He'd kissed her!

His lips pressed more firmly against her own and her eyes closed, more of their own accord than anything else, and she found herself tentatively returning his kiss.

Merlin! Her entire body was tingling…..

Pulling back slowly, he drew their kiss to an end and looked down at her; a smile gracing his freshly kissed lips.

She grinned back at him, her eyes sparkling.

"You know, I don't believe I'll be able to think straight for the rest of the day because of that." She told him.

"You won't be the only one." He assured her.

"Come on." She laughed. "We'd better go before our parents come looking for us."

He followed her off the train and spotted her sisters walking over to what must be her parents.

The man was tall and lean, with black hair and a rather severe mustache, dressed in black robes. He looked agitated, as if he had better things to do to occupy his time than picking up his children from the train station.

The woman beside him was willowy with light brown-blonde hair that was fashioned into some style that was hidden beneath her velvet, feathered hat. She seemed equally unhappy to be there, but not because of something else she needed to do. She seemed less than pleased by her husband's mood.

She noticed his gaze move from her family to a couple standing by a bench.

Those must be his parents.

His father was attractive in muggle attire. A business suit of some sort in a soft gray with his dark hair combed back. The man's face was happy, his features smiling.

The woman was also wearing muggle clothes. A sensible skirt and blouse and a pair of heeled shoes. Her hair was lighter than her husband's, but still easily recognized as brown and was drawn up into a clip. She too was smiling.

They looked every bit the happy pair and excited to see their son.

"See you soon." He whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Hurry up, Andromeda!" Called her father.

"Not soon enough." She returned just as quietly as they went their separate ways.

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"Who was that girl, son? She's quite pretty." Asked his father once they were home and settling into a welcome home lunch.

"Her name is Andromeda Black."

"You've mentioned that name before….."

"She's got an older sister in my year."

"Ah, that's probably it, then."

"Does she have any other siblings?" His mother asked.

He nodded.

"As I said, Andromeda's older sister is Bellatrix who just graduated with me and is getting married tomorrow and her younger sister, Narcissa is going into her second year this September."

"That's nice, having family with near by." His father said.

"Is Andromeda a friend of yours, Theo?" His mother asked.

"Yes. She's in Slytherin."

His father's eyebrow went up.

"Kip, what's wrong?" Asked his wife.

"I thought you said Slytherins were trouble?" Kip asked his son.

"Both her sisters are Slytherin." Theodore said. "And I said they could be a handful, not trouble." He corrected.

"Why is that so important?" Asked his mother.

"Evelyn, remember when Theo told us that the houses the students are divided into at Hogwarts stand for characteristics of the students that belong to them?" Asked Kip.

She nodded.

"To my knowledge, he said the reason anyone gets sorted into Slytherin is in large part due to the fact that they are from a pureblood family. They tend to have very lofty ideas…"

"No, this past year her cousin Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, dad. The house you get sorted into isn't necessarily the one the rest of your family is in. Andromeda's not like the other Slytherins anyway…." Theodore told them.

"No offense, Theo, but I doubt you'll be invited over for tea at her house, if her parents are anything like the other purebloods you've told us about." Kip told him.

"I know. Andromeda and I talked about that. She doesn't care about bloodlines like her family does."

"You said her older sister was getting married?" Evelyn inquired.

"Andromeda said it's an arranged marriage." He told her.

"Well, that figures. The pureblood families have had arranged marriages for centuries, haven't they? It's like what the royalty used to do."

"Is Andromeda going to have an arranged marriage?" Evelyn asked.

"I don't think so, mum."

"If her father decides he wants her married off, she won't have much choice though, will she?" Kip sighed as he sipped his drink.

"You mean he can force her to get married?!" Evelyn gasped.

"He's the head of her family and she is obliged to obey his wishes until such time as she is married or he passes. If she were to refuse to obey him she would, in all likelihood, be disowned and would thereby forfeit any claim to her inheritance and birthright, by pureblood rules, anyway." Theodore said.

"That's horrible. How could someone do something like that to their child?" She muttered.

"It's a means to an end, Evelyn. A father keeps his children in line by dangling their inheritance over their heads. He controls them and he gets what he wants. It's as simple as that." Kip told her.

"I don't think Andromeda would go for that, though. I don't really think she understands why her sister is. Bellatrix is supposed to be the headstrong one of the three."

"Well, hopefully she'll be happy with her husband. Did you and Andromeda plan to do anything over the break?" Evelyn said.

"We'll send owls and I'm supposed to meet her the day after tomorrow in Diagon Alley."

Kip smirked.

"Sounds more like a girlfriend than just a friend, son."

"Dad…"

Kip laughed and Evelyn smiled.

"Kip, don't torture him. Theo, why don't you bring her back here and we can meet her and have dinner?"

He knew that was coming.

Of course they would want to meet her….

She did say that she liked them already……

He smiled. "I'll see what she says when I see her."

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"Come on, girls. We still need to buy your dress robes and Bella's wedding robes and we need to get the rope for the ceremony. And I want to get jewelry out of our family vault for the three of you to wear tomorrow. I won't have my daughters looking like knut-less ragamuffins." Their mother said as she ushered them through the street toward Madam Malkin's.

"Funny, I thought daughters were supposed to be nut-less." Andromeda muttered to Bellatrix.

Bella sniggered into her hand.

"Leave it to you to say something like that, Andie. But it did cheer me up. I hate robe shopping with mother." Bella said.

"I like it." Cissy chimed in.

"Yes, well…that's because you haven't been poked by needles as much as we have." Andie told her.

"Give it a few years, Cissy, and you'll agree with us." Bella told her as they followed their mother into the shop.

"Good afternoon, Madame Black. Is there something special I can help you and your daughters with today?" Madame Malkin asked.

"Yes. Andromeda and Narcissa both need dress robes and Bellatrix needs a set of wedding robes."

"Wedding robes? Oh, congratulations, Miss Bellatrix. May I assume you want white robes?"

Bellatrix opened her mouth to answer, but her mother answered first.

"Perhaps crème colored robes would be better with her coloring. Besides, stark white robes are hardly fashionable."

"Of course. I have a selection over here…" Said the seamstress, leading Madame lack away from her children.

"What did I tell you?" Bella murmured when she saw Andie roll her eyes.

"Typical mother, but I suppose her expertise will come in handy today." Andie replied.

"Bella, what color robes do you want Andie and me to wear tomorrow?" Cissy asked.

"Doesn't matter what I want, Cissy. You'll wear what mother chooses and I'll be happy with it." Bella told her, sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

"But it's your wedding." Cissy said.

"It's an arranged marriage. I don't get a say in anything until I'm Mrs. Rodolphus Lestrange and even then I doubt I'll be free to do as I like." Bella said.

"That's not fair!" Cissy pouted.

"Since when has being a member of our family been fair? It's dad's way or no way, you know that." Andie said.

"Bellatrix, come here. I want you to try these on." Called their mother.

Bella groaned.

"The harpy beckons…" She muttered and headed over to their mother.

"Andromeda, I want you to come back here too. You're going to be part of the ceremony and you need special robes." Her mother announced.

"Of course I do…" She sighed and she went to see what her mother had in mind.

"Cissy! You too! I already picked out your robes."

"Maybe Bella and Andie were right…."

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A/N: Thank you to the few that read and the fewer that reviewed the last chapter. I truly appreciate it. Not too much going on in this one, really, but I thought it would be a nice chapter anyway. Dress shopping...Sorry, but I had to have that in here. The chapter wasn't a total loss though, was it? I mean...they did have their first kiss... Thanks for reading and I hope I'll see you in the next chapter.