Why, hello again! It's been ages since I uploaded, and I'm not even going to insult your intelligence with excues. I love you all and have decided to revive this fic. :) Hooray!

Also... I don't own Harry Potter. But I do own a lovely wand, a box of every flavour beans, and a chocolate frog, courtesy of Harry Potter World. :)

Chapter Seven

She was shaking uncontrollably; she could feel the cold sweat all over her body. Just let it be over. Just let it be over, she kept telling herself. Finally she heard her name, Black, Andromeda, and her tension increased tenfold. She began to walk towards the rickety stool, but with each step it seemed further and further away. After what felt like hours, she sat and faced the crowd; she knew there were hundreds of people but only saw two: Sirius on her left and Bella on her right. They were both staring at her, waving and welcoming, yet at the same time an unspoken "Choose" hung on their lips.

Suddenly, there was a slight weight on her head, and she could feel the ancient hat sliding down her face. Sliding, sliding, sliding, until she was completely enveloped by the blackness.

She was in an endless black room; the only light came from small candles on either side of her. There was a deep voice telling her she belonged in Ravenclaw. She wanted to jump in outrage, but nonexistent robes were binding her to the stool, which had now become a throne adorned in the Hogwarts colors. The voice spoke again, and she finally regained speech.

"No! I can't be in Ravanclaw! I can't!"

Where would you rather be? Andi eerily realized she couldn't tell where the voice was coming from.

"Slytherin, I need to be in Slytherin!"

And why is that? You would not fare well in Slytherin. You have the mind of a Ravenclaw, yet I could potentially see you with you cousin in Gryffindor…

"NO! You can't do this to me! Please! Please, just put me with my sister."

You would leave you cousin alone? But I thought the two of you were close, very close?

"We are, I love him, but you have to listen to me! I can't go through that!"

Go through what?

"The shame, the resentment; he's been all but disowned. That can't happen to me, it won't!"

You mean to tell me that being placed in Slytherin will guarantee your future with your family? You think they'll always love and cherish you?

"Absolutely."

Care to bet? The voice was slowly becoming more and more demonic.

"Excuse me?"

Then, out of nowhere, an enormous, fiery snake emerged from the blackness and engulfed her completely. Her screams were drowned out by the roar of the flames, and every fiber of her being was burning in agony.

As suddenly as it had come, the pain stopped as she was thrust into the light of the hall. The roaring flames became applauding students, and she saw Sirius sadly turn and sit. Then, she turned to her right, where she could still see Bella, standing and clapping, but with an odd, uncharacteristic, provocative expression. It chilled Andi to the bone.

The roaring was back. Frantically, she began to look for the snake, but noticed quickly that no one else could hear the deafening sound. Instinctively, she looked to Bella; for some reason, Andi strongly feared for her sister. Then, she saw it: the snake. But it was different this time; rather than engulfing flames, it was an unnerving, seductive smoke, that oddly matched Bella's expression perfectly. She called out to her sister, warning her about the smoke, but only Andi could see it.

Shaking with fury and frightened all the same, Andi screamed as loud as possible, telling the snake to "Leave Bella alone!" but it merely grinned at her, and continued to coil around its victim. And Bella, to Andi's utter horror, began to laugh. At first, it was her typical laugh, soft and clear as bells, but then it became harsher, louder. And as her laughter increased the snake began a bizarre transformation from smoke to flame. Finally, Bella looked around and saw the snake all around her, consuming her until her maniac laughter became screams and shrieks of torture, and Andi ran and ran to save her. As she ran Bella became farther and farther away, and the snake, out of pure spite of Andi, met her eyes and sank it's fangs into Bella's pale neck. Although she was covered in fire, the snake refused to allow her to char and perish.

Andi was shrieking and running but could do nothing at all but watch her beloved sister be tortured and destroyed in the most inhuman way imaginable.

She awoke screaming, panting, and drenched in cold sweat, just as she was in her dream. Her shivers were not at all subdued by her sheets and quilts, and her only thought was, "No, Bella!" Where was she? How real was that? My God, let her be okay…

"Shh," she heard distantly. "It's gonna be alright, love. I'm here now; everything's fine."

Andi jerked up and threw her arms around her sister; her sobs were heavy and uncontrollable. She could feel Bella's fingers through her hair, hear her soft voice, smell the mix of French perfume and the scent that was uniquely Bella.

Still shaking, Andi looked at the clock. It's wasn't yet 6:00.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I promise," soothed Bella. "Who knows? Maybe after your first night at Hogwarts, all the nightmares will go away. You'll be too excited to have bad dreams."

"What'll I dream about instead?"

Bella considered this for a moment. "Transfiguration," she answered. "And how after this year, you'll be able to anyone you don't like into a stinky toad!"

Andi laughed. "Are you sure first years learn those kinds of spells?"

"Ok, maybe it was a bit of an exaggeration, but as long as we're up, let's sneak some pastries from last night's party for breakfast."

Andi giggled again. "Ok."

She didn't know if the nightmares would really stop after she was at school. Night after night, it had been the same dream. The terror of disappointing her family was too much for her to handle, especially after she'd seen the recent treatment of Sirius. She took a deep breath and quietly followed her sister to the kitchen. Just a few more hours, she thought, and I'll have been sorted. No more worry, no more nightmares.


"So... I'm supposed to run into that wall?"

"Yes," answered Bella cheerfully. "Now hurry up! It's quarter till eleven!"

"I'm not so sure about –"

Bella grabbed Andi's hand and ran full sprint toward the barrier. The younger girl didn't even have time to cover her face before she and her sister were safely on the other side. Not a moment later, a few house elves came forward pushing their carts to the baggage handlers.

Andi looked around with the widest possible smile on her face. "I'm really going!"

Bella laughed and surveyed the area as well, but without the gleeful expression of her sister. "Andi, why don't you meet up with some first years, while I go looking for my friend?"

Not normally shy but a little overwhelmed with the sights of so many fellow wizard children, Andi stood frozen for a moment before she began making her way over to the train. "I'll see you later then?" she asked a little nervously.

"Absolutely," Bella answered. "Find a compartment and sit down. Give it ten minutes and you'll know just as many people. That seems to be how it works around here," and she walked in the opposite direction.

Tom was facing away and didn't see her coming, and Bella took full advantage of that. Knowing he loathed these sorts of games, Bella slipped her hands over his eyes and asked, "Guess who?"

"I can only imagine," he responded rather irritably, as he removed her hands from his face and turned to face her. "Have a nice holiday?"

"Could have been better," she answered with a tilt of her head that told Tom he was about to face the full passive aggressiveness of a confrontational Bellatrix.

"Do tell," he prodded.

"What did you do all summer?"

"Would you prefer chronologically or alphabetic-"

"I'll tell you what you didn't do," she interrupted. "You didn't write to me, not once. You had, what, three months, and you couldn't send a simple owl?"

"Sorry, I was... having my owl... repaired," even he looked stunned with the utter stupidity of the answer.

"You were having your owl repaired? Do tell me where the nearest bloody owl repair shop is."

"In... Leeds. It's a long drive. How's your summer been?"

"Drive?"

"Let's get on the train."

"Let's get you some medication."


The train ride was as eventful as usual. Tom and Bella attempted to sit alone, but as many Slytherins as would fit in the compartment quickly joined them. They all laughed and joked and shared summer stories. They nibbled on candies from the trolley, and had their own "Sorting" of sorts by placing the new first years into what they deemed were their appropriate Houses. There was an unusually high concentration of Hufflepuffs.

The conductor announced they would arrive in less than ten minutes, and the students quickly changed into their school robes. They rode the "invisible horse-drawn carriages," as the devices had come to be known, and Bella waved to her sister as she anxiously sat in the boat on the glassy lake.

Arriving at the castle, the Houses arranged themselves at their respective tables, awaiting the Sorting.

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