Chapter Two
The Times, they are a Changin'
Winter Term, 1968
Narcissa yawned as Bellatrix finally neared the end of her fourty minute tirade, conducted from the stone podium in the Slytherin common room. Since the near riot at Hogsmeade station, it was all anyone could talk about. Bellatrix, naturally, had spearheaded the dissenters and seemed fixed on conscripting the entire house to her cause.
"We cannot, and we will not, allow this type of overly liberalised policy to continue. I don't need to remind you that this is a school, not a zoo, and half-breeds have never been welcome here. I've heard that he cooks and eats wild creatures from the forbidden forrest. What next? What happens if he goes too far? Will it be the students next time? This is not an issue about equality. This is an issue about health and safety. The half-giant needs to go."
"He used to be a student here. They chucked him out because he 'accidentally' killed a girl" Rita, another of Bellatrix's posse, piped up. This new revelation threw the common room into a state of pandemonium, with students everywhere vowing to send angry owls to their parents before the night was out. Narcissa stretched out her legs, not particularly stirred by the evening's indoctrination. She had witnessed enough of Bellatrix's speeches to last a lifetime, and whilst most people were utterly captivated by her oratory skills, she had reached a stage of indifference. Watching groups of students hurry over to Bellatrix to offer their services to this new campaign, Narcissa turned to her friend Alice, who sat beside her.
"Want to go to the dorms? I still haven't shown you the dress I brought for the Christmas formal. It's one of a kind – Daddy managed to pull a couple of strings with some contacts, so it's specially cut to fit and everything"
Alice didn't seem to register what Narcissa had just said. Her chin was rested on her hands, and he was slumped forwards, as if in deep thought.
"Alice? Hello? Anyone home?"
"Hmm... oh. Yes, yes of course, that sounds like a good idea" Alice mumbled, her dark eyes still gazing somewhere into the mid-distance. Narcissa didn't miss this.
"Is everything alright? You seem a little... distracted"
"Oh no, no I'm fine." Alice hesitated, unsure of how to continue. She pushed on, speaking slowly. "It's just... don't you think your sister... She... well"
Narcissa laughed. "Alice. Come on. You've been my friend for two whole years. You should have realised that you can say what you like about either of my sisters. I certainly do."
Alice looked up, shocked. "No, I didn't mean anything like that – Bellatrix is really smart, and beautiful, and I would never think -"
"Alright, alright, I didn't ask for a gushing appraisal either"
"No that's not what I mean! It's just... what she was saying earlier, did it not seem a little... problematic to you?" Alice became more uncomfortable than ever, and began to fiddle with her tie relentlessly. Narcissa laughed.
"Alice, sweetheart, in my opinion everything Bellatrix has ever said is, as you put it, 'a little problematic'. Don't worry about it, that's just who she is."
Alice laughed, her voice slightly higher pitched than usual. Narcissa grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to her feet.
"Come on, I want to show you all my new clothes. I have loads, you can probably borrow them if you like. Except don't tell mummy because she gets very possessive over family property, and I don't want to get in trouble"
The wind hadn't helped, Andromeda reminded herself. It wasn't entirely her fault that she had made a complete idiot of herself during the quidditch try-outs. It had been very windy, and everyone had found it excessively difficult to maintain control over their brooms. It was just that she had found it more difficult than everyone else. Andromeda's preferred quidditch position was chaser, mainly because she could rely on her teammates to cover up her weaknesses on the pitch. However, when you are passed a quaffle and asked to shoot it in 90 km/h winds, there's no way of concealing an utter lack of skill at the sport. In fact, Andromeda had got closer to the goals than her quaffle ever did, as an unexpected swipe of cold air had sent her right into one of the goal posts, almost knocking her of her broom and thus ending the try-out on a very painful note. The captain, a tall, lean girl with long wiry hair, had grimaced throughout the whole episode, but had at least allowed Andromeda to return to the changing room immediately, curtailing her moment of public embarrassment.
She pulled on her school boots, and hastily stuffed the remainder of her quidditch uniform back into the scruffy kit bag. Her parents bought her an entirely new set of school equipment every year, but the new kit bag sat abandoned somewhere in a side compartment of her trunk. Andromeda had not yet been able to dignify taking it out. Her family heritage was something she was immensely proud of, but unveiling a kit bag bearing the Black family crest seemed to be a new level of pretentiousness, and she reasoned that enough people mistook her for being exactly like her sisters as it was. She didn't need flashy new equipment to further enforce this assumption.
Trudging slowly back towards the castle, she wondered how she would explain the results of the try out to Bellatrix, without sending her sister, fuming, towards the team captain to give her a piece of her mind. She needed a distraction, something to make her look like she was too busy for Bellatrix's remaining ideas. A project. Of course, a project! Andromeda breathed a sigh of relief. Why didn't she think of it earlier? An extra-curricular academic project would be perfect. She could take out some books from the library, and as long as she was seen reading them, ideally in a public place, Bellatrix would be sure to leave her alone. Actually completing the project would be of far less concern.
By the time she reached the entrance hall, she had worked out exactly what she needed to do. She headed straight for the dungeon, fixing her hair as she went. Passing by the potions classrooms, she thought it strange, how they became so quiet later in the evening. The school felt cold, almost empty, without the herds of students rushing between classes. But it was late, and she knew that most students would be wrapped up warmly in their various dormitories, far away from the storm that was beginning to develop outside. Reaching the potions office, she hesitated slightly, before lifting her hand and tapping lightly at the door. She didn't quite know why she felt nervous – aside from being head of slytherin, Professor Slughorn was also her potions teacher, and appeared to have taken a liking to her.
The door swung open, and Professor Slughorn stood, dressed in a large, printed smoking jacket, with a pipe hanging from his lips. Recognising Andromeda, he promptly removed the pipe, and beamed.
"Why, if it isn't the young Miss Black! Come in, come in. Is there anything with which I can help you?" He gestured her inside, and Andromeda followed his suggestion, willing the smile on her face not to become fixed. She didn't much like lying, especially not to someone who had always been so kind to her. Slughorn drew up two armchairs using his wand, and at his prompting, they both took a seat.
"Thank-you, Professor – sorry for calling so late, I really don't want to be any bother"
"Not at all, not at all. On the contrary, your arrival has just reminded me of a matter involving your very person. But that can wait. What can I do for you on this fine stormy evening?"
"Well, I was wondering, considering it's my fourth year now, and I really need to start focusing for my OWLS, whether it would be worth taking on an independent project? I was hoping that you could commission something for me?"
"Why dear Andromeda, we've barely finished the first week of term! You should be out reacquainting yourself with your friends, not taking on extra schoolwork!"
Andromeda tensed at these words. It wasn't that she was unpopular, indeed her blood status meant that she was always treated with respect by other students, but she didn't really have any close friends. The reputation of Bellatrix had preceded her arrival at Hogwarts, and though she socialised with the other fourth year Slytherins, she wasn't particularly close to any of them. They subconsciously held her at arm's length, as if she would one day explode at them, in the same manner Bellatrix occasionally did. Truth be told, Andromeda wasn't even sure much much she actually minded this state of things. Ever since her childhood, where rumours of dissent had rumbled across the wizarding world, all anyone ever wanted to talk about was magical policy. Given the hardline conservative attitude of her family, she never felt especially comfortable engaging in these sorts of conversation in the first place.
Slughorn noticed her silence, and Andromeda would later wonder whether he had also gaged the implication behind it. Regardless, he decided to pick up from where he had left off.
"However, I would be a fool not to capitalise on a student's interest in academic study. So long as it doesn't contain any cause for..." He trailed off, lost in thought. "But tell me, do you have a specific topic in mind? I would hope that you would be considering a potions-related theme?"
"Oh." Andromeda faltered. She had not actually had time to come up with a concrete objective for the project. "No. Not yet."
"Allow me to throw out a few suggestions then. You're a bright young girl, have always done very well in my classes, so we should choose something challenging for you. Not too challenging, mind, but something you can spend a couple of months working on. And you're about to start work on your OWLS. Let me see... some of the work I'm setting for the NEWT classes might fit the bill, considering that you'll have a much longer time frame. Scintillation solution? No, that's too straight-forward. Murtlap Essence, Manegro?"
Andromeda let him continue, not at all understanding what he was saying. Suddenly, he paused, eyes brightening. "By george I think I've got it. Draught of the Living Death. How does that sound?"
The name was vaguely familiar to her, so Andromeda nodded. "That sounds interesting".
"Very well. I'll leave it up to you to choose upon a name and question for the project, but with that draught as your primary potion, I'm sure any portfolio you could produce would be highly interesting. I look forward to it's arrival."
"Thank-you, professor. I'll do that." Andromeda stood up, readying herself for departure. Slughorn rose with her, a new thought materialising on his face.
"And before I forget" he cut in, "I'm having a little get together next Friday, with some of the students, and a couple of outside guests. I would love for you to come along. Actually, I could even introduce you to a couple of students whom I think you'd like."
Andromeda froze, and then frantically worked to stop her lips from turning upwards. She was fairly certain that she had just been invited to the Slug Club. The Slug Club! After three years of study and no invite, she had been sure that she would never follow in Bellatrix's footsteps as a member.
"That would be lovely."
"Wonderful! I'll send out formal invitations tomorrow, but it will most likely be at 8pm on Friday. In the Potions classroom, not here. I detest having to take guests into this water-closet of an office.
'Thank-you Professor. I look forward to it!" Andromeda said, before turning to leave the room. She briefly wondered about his wording. 'I could even introduce you to a couple of students'. Was this invite his method of taking pity on her social isolation? Whilst it may be true, she reasoned, an invite to the Slug Club, under any circumstances, was better than no invite to the Slug Club. An independent project and a Slug Club invitation. Bellatrix was going to be ecstatic.
A/N: If you're reading this, thanks for getting this far! It's been a long time since I posted chapter one, but it's the holidays now, which should mean lots of time for writing. Please tell me what you think so far - I always appreciate feedback. Also, I'm planning on working with a large range of characters and events, so do please tell me if there's anyone or anything you'd like me to focus on more in future, as I'll bear all those comments in mind when writing. Thank-you so much, and if you like it, please feel free to review/favourite/follow!