26th March 1973
Diagon Alley was a busy place during the Easter holidays. Students were replacing their ruined or too-small robes, lost textbooks, and used up potion supplies; or else stocking up on joke shop merchandise or gazing longingly into the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. And on top of that were the regular shoppers, including Ted and Andromeda, who were laden with shopping bags (well Ted was, anyway) after indulging in some last-minute baby shopping. It was now only two weeks until their due date.
"Why didn't we just find out the sex?" Ted grumbled. "It would have been so much cheaper." It was true; Andromeda had tried to buy clothes in unisex colours like orange and white, but she couldn't resist buying a few little suits in pink and blue. Wasn't that every little girl's dream?
"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport," she scolded him. "We discussed it, didn't we, we wanted it to be a surprise."
"I know, I know, seriously. I was only making a joke," Ted said, rolling his eyes. But Andromeda's attention had turned elsewhere. "Dromeda. Dromeda?" He looked over to where her eyes were fixed and froze.
Bellatrix was striding across the street towards Madam Malkin's, a disgruntled Narcissa following close behind (Bellatrix was not the easiest person to shop with). Andromeda's eyes were glued to them. She hadn't seen Cissy since the summer. She looked like she had grown up. But Bella was the same as ever. Andromeda could not process seeing such an... ordinary scene. There was no such thing as ordinary in her life at the moment. She found herself drawn towards her sisters, oblivious to Ted's calls. But he didn't follow her; he sensed that this was something she needed to do, and alone.
She slipped into the shop and managed to overhear some snatches of their conversation.
"You can't wear that, Cissy," Bellatrix snapped disgustedly. "It's not some five-year-old's birthday party. The Dark Lord will be there!" Andromeda sighed. Maybe things had changed more than she wanted to admit.
"Don't go shouting about it, Bella!" Narcissa hissed. "Someone might hear!" Luckily, the shop was packed enough that nobody could hear except those, like Andromeda, who were actually listening.
"Let them," Bellatrix declared. "He'll take over soon enough. We should be proud. Honoured."
"Yes, but we don't want to be thrown into Azkaban in the meantime," Narcissa reasoned.
Bellatrix sighed. "I suppose not," she admitted. "But seriously, find something that makes you look... sophisticated! If that's possible," she added cruelly.
"Thanks for that, Bella," Narcissa said sarcastically. "Just because I don't dress like a slut all the time." It was so painful to listen to - Andromeda never would have thought she'd miss the petty sisterly arguments, but she did. Not that she regretted her decision to go with Ted; not that she didn't love him and the baby. Of course she did. But she was about to give birth, and a small part of her just couldn't help longing for some normality.
"Oh, shut up, Cissy," Bellatrix snapped. "You have no taste. I'm going to try these on." She stalked off towards the changing room while Narcissa continued to browse. Andromeda watched her sister inspect various dresses, holding them up against her in the mirror and always rejecting them. Suddenly, she turned the corner to where Andromeda had been hiding. She gasped in horror and the dress she had been holding tumbled to the ground.
"Andi!" she whispered in shock. It must have been alarming to see your sister 38 weeks pregnant when you hadn't even seen her with a bump before. She hurriedly retrieved the dress from the floor and swiftly pushed past the flocks of other customers and retreated to the other side of the shop.
"No - Cissy! Wait!" Andromeda cried desperately, moving after Narcissa as quickly as she could. She reached the other end of the room where Narcissa resumed her browsing. "Cissy, please! Talk to me."
Narcissa ignored her completely, and continued to inspect dresses. She didn't seem satisfied with any of them. Andromeda just stood behind her and watched, until she couldn't stand it any longer. She picked out a coral coloured dress and presented it to Narcissa. "I think it would suit you," she said softly.
Narcissa took it from her uncertainly. She looked at it against her skin tone in the mirror. She looked torn. "It's not the right sort of thing," she said eventually, replacing it where Andromeda had found it.
"Oh. Of course. Not Death Eater fashion," said Andromeda bitterly. "Has Bella really got you involved already? You're not even out of school."
Narcissa laughed. "No. I'm going to some sort of function. With Lucius." There was an awkward silence between the two. Then: "Why did you do it, Andi?" Narcissa asked quietly. "Why did you leave us? We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. How could you just abandon everything you had for that Mudblood?"
"Don't say that word," Andromeda said warningly. "I love him, Cissy. When you fall in love with someone, you'll understand."
"But I thought you loved us too!" Narcissa argued.
Andromeda sighed. "It's not the same. And besides," she added, indicating her stomach, "we're having a baby, Cissy! Ted's baby! I couldn't kill it. I couldn't just have pretended it was Rabastan's. How could I let that baby live a lie for all its life?"
Narcissa didn't say anything for a minute. "I miss you, Andi," she admitted finally.
"I miss you, too," Andromeda whispered, and the two sisters embraced. "But this is the way it has to be."
Unfortunately, this was the moment that Bellatrix decided to emerge from the changing rooms.
"Cissy? Andi?" she said in disbelief. "Narcissa, how could you? You know what she's done. You know she's no longer welcome in our family. You know we're forbidden from associating with her! Because she's associating with... filth!"
Narcissa looked like she was about to protest, but Bellatrix seized her by the wrist and dragged her out of the shop.
"No! Bella? Please! Cissy!" Andromeda called, sobbing as they left; Bellatrix without sparing a thought, Narcissa with the occasional backward glance. The shop door opened again: Ted came in and took her in his arms as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
A/N: Sorry this update took so long! Anyway, I thought I'd treat you to a bit of drama for the PENULTIMATE CHAPTER! ;) Did you like it? There's one way to let me know...
Massive, massive thanks to my wonderful beta, kci47; without her, this chapter probably wouldn't even EXIST, let alone make sense (I wrote this far too late at night...).
Yeah, I've run out of witty ways to say this, but I don't own Harry Potter, okay? :P
