Andromeda:

I listen from the stairs.

I listen. That's all I ever do. I listen as the fight goes down, and I comfort afterwards. There have been fights like this before, and it's always the same. Bellatrix, or Sirius, or both, do something scandalous. Narcissa and Regulus hide. I wait from the stairs until the shouting is finished. I comfort whoever comes out of the room first, hug, and let them cry and rant, and I listen. And I tell them that they're right, it's all terribly unfair, but they should just go to bed, and it will all seem better in the morning, even though I know it's a lie. Then I go to my uncle, or my father, whichever was angrier, and I plead on behalf of my sister and cousin. Sirius was reading Muggle books? He only does it to spite them because he craves their attention. Bellatrix was in bed with some boy you don't know? She only does it to feel something. Sirius and Bellatrix were overheard plotting to poison their parents? They were angry, they wouldn't dream of really doing it.

And then I listen to them too. Uncle Orion says that he's worried Sirius is going wrong, and I listen. Father says that he's worried Bellatrix will end up in bed with a Mudblood, and I listen. I listen. It's all I ever do.

But this time, I know listening won't fix anything. Sirius storms out, and he isn't searching for justice. He's searching for freedom, and I know because I recognize in his face what I've seen in my own. That desperate craving to be somewhere, anywhere but here. Longing for freedom.

"Sirius?"

I creep down the stairs, follow him to the front door.

"Where are you going?"

"Away!" He whirls on me, and I startle at the anger in his eyes. "Away, Andi, anywhere but here!"

"Don't go," I whisper. "You can't go. We need you. We love you."

"You might, but they sure as Hell don't," he said, jabbing a finger at the door. "They want me out, and I'm leaving. Don't try to convince me to stay, Andi. Don't even talk to me."

I listen to his footsteps as he leaves, with only his wand and his muggle clothes.

I listen to the wind outside, when the sound of it obscures the sounds of my cousin's departure.

I listen to Father and Uncle Orion, screaming at Bellatrix now.

I listen. That's all I ever do.