Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns anything recognizable

Author's Note:So since I've been back, I've been attempting to unpack all of the stuff I've managed to accumulate over the past three weeks. Then I found, after day five of sorting through the mounds of stuff, the piece of paper I scribbled several ideas on (there's only so much you can do on a 12-hour plane journey). I immediately bounded over to the computer, and began writing... and well, here you are.

Part Two

Pride

All pureblood wizarding families had that unmistakeable air of pride about them.

Some felt that this was rightly so – they were like no other, the only people in the world that had pure magical blood running through their veins. They never had to taint the family with Muggle blood just to sustain themselves.

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black gave a new meaning to the word 'pride'. They were the extreme of all extremists.

Naturally, they were among the first to join Voldemort's forces when he started gathering followers and gaining power. Bellatrix – Lestrange by marriage, but a Black by blood, and her non-existent heart – was the first one of the lot.

Needless to say, she was proud of what she did and what it meant, and soon she had swayed her youngest sister Narcissa – Malfoy by marriage, but a Black by body, soul and her cold, calculating mind – to join too. Narcissa, too, was proud of what she had done.

Then there was young Regulus, the avid fan. Sixteen years old when he joined the Death Eaters. Logically, he was proud that he had finally achieved what he strived to for so long (of course, no one ever mentions anymore when he fell out of favour with the Dark Lord and subsequently got himself killed, because that was what purebloods did not stand for – disloyalty).

Therefore, it was a stain upon the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black when two – not one, but two – of their descendants turned out as black sheep. Or should it be white sheep?

Sirius, from the moment he was born, was always a rebel. He forced his mother into labour three weeks early and yelled, screamed, shrieked and spit up every moment of his babyhood. The terrible twos were worse – his parents had never been so exhausted, or had to replace so much furniture.

Then there was the real kick – when he was sorted into Gryffindor. His subsequent friendship with James Potter (blood traitor that he was) led to things spiralling downhill from there. Nobody was interested in him after that, not even when he apparently betrayed his long-time best friend and was sent to Azkaban. Nobody in the House of Black, by blood or by marriage, believed that he would actually join the Dark Lord. They knew their children, and a Black was never disloyal. But, as purebloods do, they kept quiet and to themselves – nobody else had a right to know their family's business.

But there was still one more – the forgotten Black, if you will. Sandwiched between two overbearing sisters, and shadowed by the males in her family, it was quite easy to forget Andromeda.

As the second child – and second daughter, no less – she was always the one in the shadows. Not worshipped (at least, in his early years), as Sirius, the heir to the Black fortune, was, or cared for, as Regulus, the obedient second-in-line was. Not moulded as carefully as Bellatrix was, or pampered as Narcissa was. But it was enough.

Her mother had been instrumental in Bella's upbringing, and you could say it was because of her that Bella turned out the way she did. Her father had adored Cissy, the baby of the family, and spoiled her rotten. There wasn't much time for Andy-in-the-middle, but there was enough.

The three of them were sorted in Slytherin, obviously, when they attended Hogwarts. Bella was the rebel – once almost caught using an Unforgiveable on a little second-year Ravenclaw – and Cissy was cold and uncaring. Studies were not important to them as much as convincing other students that Muggleborns were scum, et cetera.

Andromeda was always the 'good' one. The good child, with the good grades, the good record, the good reports, the good student. For her parents, that was enough. She was the one that became a prefect and eventually Head Girl. Her parents threw her a party when they found out – not because they were proud, but because of tradition. But Andromeda didn't care – it was enough.

That party, however, was full of people she barely knew. After the initial meet-and-greet rounds, she found herself in the corner, doing the first 'bad' thing in her life – knocking back the Firewhisky like normal people drink pumpkin juice.

Her ten-year-old cousin, Sirius, sidled up to her after the second bottle, and asked if she wanted company. She agreed, and as Sirius sat there in silence and watched her down another bottle, she was just about drunk enough to do the second 'bad' thing she had ever done in her life – influence a child that was already far too close to the edge to go over fully.

"You know, Sii-wwiii-us," she had slurred, waving her bottle in his face (and causing most of it to slop down him, but neither noticed). "Don' ever let anyone tell you wha' to do. Don' ever do things that you don' wan' too. Don' end up like me. You can do alllll these good things to impress people, but a' the end o' the day, they don' care 'bout you. Someone else is always mo' important. Do wha' I do, an' you'll never feel like it's enough."

To anyone else, it would have simply been a case of Andromeda being drunk and speaking nonsense, but Sirius Black was an extremely perceptive ten-year-old. He knew that no matter how much she may have drunk, there was a certain amount of sobriety in her still, and took it all to heart.

So when the news came the following year that Sirius – horror of all horrors – had done the unthinkable, become a dreaded Gryffindor, she knew it had something to do with her words.

And, oddly enough, she was proud of that.

Slytherins are particularly proud people. They are cunning, and witty, and subtle. They do things quietly, with dignity. They are not bold and brash, like those brave, noble and stupid Gryffindors. They do not see the world as a puzzle that needs to be solved, like Ravenclaws. They do not see the necessity in to place trust in absolutely everyone, like Hufflepuffs. They are ambitious and proud.

When Andromeda went back to school the September after that party as the new Head Girl, she found herself wanting to gain the attention of not only her peers, but finally her parents, too. Seventeen years had been too long to simply just be 'another daughter' anymore.

She worked harder than ever that year to prove herself worthy of her badge. Dedicated patrolling every night. Hour after hour on studying. Tutoring younger students when she had the time.

In fact, she was so wrapped up in her duties, that she forgot to be horrible to her fellow Head (and coincidentally Muggleborn Hufflepuff) Ted Tonks.

Ted had always gotten on her nerves. He was always so smiley and happy-go-lucky all the time, from the moment she had met him six years ago. He was nice to everyone, trusted everyone, and didn't seem to be able to say no. She was always mean to him, and he always laughed it off. Andromeda hated people like that. People with no backbone, the Blacks had always called them.

One night in late January, the two of them were left on their own after a Prefects' meeting. Whilst Ted was sitting there and throwing a ball that he had charmed somehow, at the wall, Andromeda was still scribbling down notes and trying to draw up a rota for patrol duties.

When the ball put a hole through the wall, she snapped.

"Will you stop?" she hissed, as the ball zoomed back into Ted's hand.

He grinned. "Nope," he said, and tossed it into the air. It rocketed around the room for a moment, and then headed for the hole in the wall.

Andromeda whipped out her wand. "Finite Incantatum," she said irritably, and the ball dropped back down onto the floor. "Now will you help me? I want to get these rotas done before eight-thirty so I can get some studying done tonight."

Ted frowned. "What studying? I'm in all your classes-"

"Unfortunately," Andromeda muttered under her breath.

"-and there's nothing we need to be studying for."

Andromeda's eyes almost popped out of her head at that. "Are you joking, Tonks? Do you not realize that we have NEWTs this year? They determine the rest of our lives, and you don't think we need to study for them?"

"Wow," Ted said after a moment's pause. "I didn't realize that it was quite as dramatic as that."

Andromeda had had enough by then. She slammed down her quill, and began to shove everything back into her bag with an unnecessary amount of brute force. She swung her bag over her shoulder, and was almost out of the room when something Ted said stopped her in her tracks.

"Why do you try so hard, anyway?"

She whirled around, a sharp retort on her lips, when it suddenly died.

Ted's words had hit a nerve, and struck Andromeda with realization.

Why did she try so hard?

Her parents had never cared, no matter what she did. Her future was as good as set in stone, with an impending engagement to Antonin Dolohov. It didn't matter what she did at school, or how good her grades were – it would never be enough.

It was a matter of pride, Salazar Slytherin himself would tell her. She didn't want to fail. Slytherins, and Blacks, were not failures. Andromeda Black was everything a Black should be. She wanted to show that she could be better than a business arrangement with another family, just another pureblood daughter to create more pureblood children.

But it didn't matter. At the end of the day, she would simply be just another trophy wife.

Unless... she did something about it.

From that day on, she spent more and more time with Ted. Nobody was too horrified to see the two bent over a piece of parchment in the library and whispering to each other, but most people were when they were seen walking down a corridor to class together, laughing.

Everyone was shocked when one day, in late June, pureblood Slytherin Andromeda went over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down next to Muggleborn Ted Tonks like she had always been there. Their romance was rumoured to have blossomed several months before, in fact, but they had kept it quiet.

Naturally, there was the Howler a week later when her parents found out about her 'inappropriate' relations with Muggleborns (courtesy of Narcissa). But most people were surprised to see that she opened it with pride, and displayed it for all to see as she ate breakfast with Ted. As soon as it had finished, she cleaned up the mess and was heard snickering to Ted: "Is that all they've got?"

It was a much different story when she went home that summer. School was over, and her life was just beginning.

She was not happy to see Dolohov and his mother in the sitting room when she walked in after getting home. She did not even bother with formalities and greetings – she simply pulled her own mother out of the room and told her:

"Mother, I'm leaving."

Her mother had just stared at her as if she'd grown another head. "Andy, you just arrived home. The Dolohovs are here to discuss the terms of your engagement. You're not going anywhere."

"I'm not marrying him, Mother."

Which her mother had blinked at owlishly, and then said: "Well, of course you are. Who else would you marry?"

"Ted."

A roaring silence ripped through the hallway. Andy could practically hear the Dolohovs straining their ears to hear what was going on.

"That Mudblood-"

"Don't call him that!"

"-You met at school? Don't be ridiculous, Andromeda."

"I'm not. Me marrying Dolohov is ridiculous. Me marrying Ted is logical. Well, not really, considering I've only been with him a few months, but I love him, so I figured logical isn't really that important."

Her mother's voice had started to become shrill and strained at that point. "You are a Black, Andromeda! How can you possibly marry a filthy Mudblood? He is below your status! You should be marrying into a respectable, pureblooded family!"

"But I'm not," Andromeda replied quietly. "I've sent ahead all my things to Ted's. I'll be staying with him from now on. Goodbye, Mother."

And as she turned on the spot, her mother screeched after her: "You are no child of mine, and no daughter of the House of Black, Andromeda!"

Andromeda paused in her steps, and turned back around. "Enough just isn't enough for me anymore, Mother," she said gently, and continued on.

Standing up to her family may have been the proudest moment of her entire life, Andromeda surmised as she strode out of the house, turned on the spot, and Disapparated.

She and Ted had married that October, in a Muggle ceremony. Once upon a time, it would have disgusted her, but she had stopped caring about these things long ago. As they danced together at their reception, she declared to Ted: "Andromeda Black is dead. I'm ready for a new life."

Ted had grinned, kissed her on the cheek, and said: "She's not dead. She'll never be dead. So long as she's part of you, I don't want her to be dead."

She had stared at him incredulously. "Andromeda Black was a horrible person, especially to you. How can you still want her around?"

He kissed her hand as they sat down again. "Andromeda Black was a proud person. Pureblood, Slytherin, daughter of the House of Black. Yet it was that same Andromeda Black that turned her back on her own family, her own heritage, that led to her being here with me today. Pretty good, don't you think?"

She had always been a calm and composed woman, but Ted's words left her gaping like a goldfish. He saw her expression, laughed, and kissed her again.

"Andy Black was a good person," he told her. "Past all her family... issues, she was a good person. But somehow I think Dromeda Tonks will be even more extraordinary."

From that day on, Andromeda Tonks lived on, a happy woman with a wonderful family. She was proud of what she had given up to gain in her husband and daughter.

Ted had told her to never settle for 'enough'. If there was one thing her heritage had taught him, was that Blacks never settled for enough. She had always lived under the impression to be grateful for what she had – but why stop there? None of the others did. They wanted what they wanted and were proud of it.

So Andromeda went for what she wanted.

She wanted love.

So she married her soulmate.

She wanted a child.

So she had a mischievous daughter.

She wanted a good life.

So she got it.

And she was damn proud of it.