Hey there! Thank you again to my lovely followers and reviewers. You guys are champs! I hope you enjoy this next chapter xx
Chapter Two
Once they had boarded the train, Andromeda and Bellatrix parted their separate ways. Bellatrix had laughed cruelly at Andromeda when she suggested joining her carriage. Even if she hated her sister, at least she would have known someone. Instead, Andromeda was forced to trudge through the corridor alone, searching for a compartment. Her people skills weren't the most refined, and having mainly been around adults and her sisters, Andromeda had never needed to make friends. Now, she was finding out just how seriously lacking her childhood had been in that particular field.
Andromeda did not think of herself as uninteresting. She was an attractive, well-spoken girl from a highly regarded family of wealthy, aristocratic and powerful witches and wizards. She was rich and had never worked a day in her life. Yet her privileged upbringing had not prepared her for this torture. Walking passed full carriages, where children laughed and played exploding snap was the most tormenting experience of her life. Eventually, she found an empty compartment and scurried into it, glad to be on her own. She pulled out her book from before and curled up next to window, becoming utterly absorbed in the novel.
A few moments later, she heard the door slide open and looked up to find a face smiling at her. Not just any face. A boy's face. Andromeda was taken aback. The only boys she knew were her cousins, and Sirius and Regulus were far too young to interact with. Yet, there was something strange about this boy. As he grinned broadly at her, Andromeda couldn't help but feel warmed. His skin was tan; his hair a sandy brown, almost gold in the sunlight that peered through the train and his eyes were a warm hazel. It was as though he radiated light and Andromeda smiled at him in spite of herself.
"Hello," he said cheerfully. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Andromeda shut her book and crossed her legs like a lady. "Not at all," she said politely. The boy bounded in happily and sat down opposite her. They sat in silence, but Andromeda could feel his eyes on her.
"I'm Ted, by the way," he exclaimed jovially, holding out his hand. "Ted Tonks." Andromeda stared at it in confusion, before returning her gaze to his.
"You can shake my hand," he laughed, making the corners of his eyes crinkle. "I haven't got germs."
Andromeda took his hand in her dainty one and shook it gently, before quickly letting go. The boy's hand was warm and comforting, so different from the hands she held at home. Andromeda was not used to such warmth and happiness radiating from a single person. It was more than she had ever seen from any of her family members combined – except, perhaps, Sirius.
"Andromeda Black," she replied politely. "Pleasure to meet you."
Ted screwed up his face. "Andromeda? That's an awfully strange name."
She glared at him icily, a skill she had perfected since she was three. She had learnt from the best, of course. Druella Black's glare was harsher than Medusa's.
"Well," she said indignantly. "You're an awfully strange person."
Ted didn't seem to be offended in the slightest. Instead, he merely smiled brighter, emphasising more of that warm glow.
"I didn't mean to offend you," he said kindly. "I've just never heard of it before. It's not a very common name, is all."
"It's a constellation," Andromeda declared proudly, sticking her nose in the air haughtily. Druella would be proud of the performance she was giving, if only she was there to bear witness to it.
"Blimey," Ted whistled, impressed. "A constellation? Fancy that! I'm named after my grandfather, Theodore Tonks."
"So, your name is Theodore?" Andromeda asked, arching one curved, dark eyebrow.
The boy nodded. "Yep. But everyone calls me Ted. It gets confusing after a while, with so many Theodores running around."
This was news to Andromeda. She didn't even try to hide her alarm. "There are more Theodores in your family?" she asked.
"My dad is Theodore Tonks the second. Which makes me Theodore Tonks the third. But Ted is my nickname."
This boy is very odd, Andromeda thought to herself. And yet, she couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips. There was something about this strange boy that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. As though she had been living in darkness her whole life and was finally seeing the sun for the first time. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't realise Ted had asked her a question.
"Andromeda?" he asked again, his warm, hazel eyes narrowing. "Are you listening to me?"
"Hmm?" she said, adopting the tone her mother often used when her father prattled on about one of his latest political achievements.
"Do you have a nickname? I mean, Andromeda has a lot of syllables to get your tongue around." He laughed his joyful laugh again and Andromeda gave a small laugh of her own, despite that he had insulted her name again.
"My sisters call me 'Meda'," she told him.
"Meda..." Ted's voice trailed off and he furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought. "How about Andy?"
Andromeda screwed up her nose in disgust. "That's a boy's name," she cried, utterly mortified that he would even suggest such a common nickname. "I much prefer Meda. At least it still has a nice eloquence to it."
Ted rolled his eyes. "Well, how about I call you Prissy instead?" He threw his head back and roared with laughter at her expression, making Andromeda giggle. He looked so carefree and happy, and she wanted nothing more than to join in his aura. The two of them continued laughing, at nothing in particular, until they were in stitches and their sides ached. Andromeda had never laughed so hard in her life.
Once they had calmed down, the old lady came past with the sweets trolley and Ted hurriedly bought a large stash of Liquorice Wands, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs. Andromeda scoffed as he eagerly handed over a few Sickles and Knuts and surveyed his purchases greedily.
"Are you sure you didn't want to buy the whole trolley?" she drawled sarcastically. But Ted ignored her and began to unwrap one of his Chocolate Frogs.
"Holy cricket!" he yelped in surprise as a frog made entirely out of chocolate sprung out of the packet and leapt onto the window sill. Andromeda raised her eyebrows at him. Surely, he had eaten a Chocolate Frog before? He should have seen that coming. But he just gawked at it with his mouth open, his hand pinching him arm hard, making the raised skin turn white.
Andromeda reached out and pulled his arm away, before snatching up the Chocolate Frog and keeping it locked in the palms of her hands.
"Why didn't you catch it?" she asked as Ted rubbed his arm, where there was an angry red mark.
"I didn't know it was alive!" he explained in amazement.
"Have you never eaten a Chocolate Frog before?" Andromeda asked curiously.
Ted shook his head. "I'm a Muggle born. I'm not used to eating all these wizard sweets."
Andromeda froze and blinked her eyes a few times. A Mudblood? She was sharing a compartment with a Mudblood. They had shaken hands, they were breathing in the same air. They were talking to each other. Her stomach plummeted. What would Bellatrix say? What would her mother, or Narcissa, or any other members of her family think of her? All of a sudden, that warm, fuzzy feeling that had been bubbling inside her turned to ice. She glanced down at her hands, expecting them to be grossly disfigured or covered in warts or rotting away to the bone. To her surprise, they remained as smooth and dainty as ever. Andromeda lifted her eyes to meet Ted's, who was regarding her with concern.
From birth, Andromeda had been taught that Mudbloods were abominations, violations against nature. They were thieves of magic, they had stolen the wands of innocent witches and wizards. It had been made very clear to her from the start that Mudbloods were not like her.
Her skin crawled and she felt suddenly nauseous. She needed to leave. No one must ever find out that she had shared a conversation with a Mudblood. She would be ostracised, ridiculed, called insulting names. Mudblood lover... She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and hastily stood up and quickly departed the compartment without a second glance at the boy.
Andromeda immediately went to the small bathroom and thoroughly washed her hands. She lathered the sweet smelling soap in between each finger, over ever knuckle, until she was certain that all remnants of the Mudblood had been removed from her skin. She felt tainted. Memories of the warm, tanned skin touching her own porcelain flesh haunted her as she left the bathroom. As she traipsed through the halls, she couldn't shake the feeling that people were watching her; whispering behind her back. Did they know she had shaken the hand of a Mudblood? The Black motto echoed in her mind... Toujours Pur. Always Pure. But she wasn't pure; she had been tainted by filth.
Eventually, she came across Bellatrix's carriage. She tentatively opened the door and slid inside. Bella looked up at the sound and frowned upon her little sister. The compartment was shared by four other students; a rather stocky girl with stringy orange hair and a squished nose; a thin, greasy haired boy, a tall girl with cropped black hair and an olive skinned, black haired boy. Andromeda recognised the short haired girl as Ophelia Burke; Bellatrix had invited her to tea over the summer. The other three she couldn't place.
"Is this her?" sneered the orange haired girl rudely.
Bellatrix laughed cruelly. "Yes, this is her. What do you want Meda?"
Andromeda folded her hands behind her back and stared meekly at the floor. A flush coloured her pale cheeks. She loathed going to Bellatrix; it always resulted in being mocked for weeks on end about her incompetency. But she felt she had no choice.
"I don't have anywhere to sit. All the compartments are full."
At this, Bellatrix and her friends howled with laughter, making Andromeda squirm uncomfortably.
"Poor Meda," Bella simpered unkindly, adopting that high pitched voice she saved only for mocking her sister. "She can't find anywhere to sit. Hah. Not. My. Problem," she spat. Andromeda glowered darkly at her older sister and stormed out of the compartment with a swish of her long, mahogany hair. Frustrated tears welled in her eyes and she forced them back. She wasn't about to give Bellatrix the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
She continued to pass the carriages, until she came across a relatively empty one. The only occupant was a small, blonde girl curled up next to the window with an elegant grey cat resting in her lap. The girl looked up as Andromeda approached and smiled shyly. Her wide, bambi, baby blue eyes and her long hair in two plaits hanging past her shoulders reminded Andromeda of Narcissa. It made her feel comforted.
"Hello," she said politely. "Do you mind if I join you?"
The girl shook her head. "Not at all," she said sweetly as she stroked the silky fur of her cat. It purred contently and swished its tail back and forth.
Andromeda took a seat opposite her and scrutinised the girl carefully. "I'm Andromeda Black," she said, holding out her hand.
The girl's eyes widened in acknowledgement and she quickly took Andromeda's hand gently. "Rosella Avery," she said in a small voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Relief spread through Andromeda's body as she took the small, pale hand in her own. Avery; she knew that name. The Averys were a high class Pureblood family like her own.
"Is this your first year too?"
"Yes," Rosella replied sadly. "But I wish it wasn't."
This caught Andromeda by surprise. Going to Hogwarts was something she had dreamed about ever since Bellatrix had gone away last year. She couldn't imagine why Rosella would want to stay at home.
"Why ever not?" she asked, not bothering to contain her astonishment.
Rosella shrugged and cast her eyes out the window as the Hogwarts Expressed passed the green pasture of the Scottish countryside.
"I've never been away from home before," she admitted softly.
Andromeda felt a stab of pity and reached out to pat Rosella's knee. "It's okay," she assured her kindly. "You're going to love it."
The young girl fixed her eyes on her, shining with hope. "You think so?"
"I know so."
The two girls smiled at each other and continued to sit in silence. Andromeda pulled out her book, drew up her knees and resumed reading.
A/N: Please don't hate Andromeda. She has been brought up as a Pureblood and even though she hates her sister, doesn't mean she tolerates Muggle borns... yet. Please read and review! I'd love to hear your thoughts xx
