Andromeda's First Friend

Andromeda's heart raced. "Is it staring at me," she wondered. She couldn't help but sense that it was looking straight at her even though it didn't have eyes.

Ted and her were the last ones. Ted gave her a side-glance and then went to the hat. "Off you go Ravenclaw," it said.

Andromeda's palms were sweaty as she patted down her robes. She shyly approached the hat. The moment it sat down on her head, she told it, "Slytherin! I need Slytherin hat, and if I could please ask that you sort my sister Narcissa also into Slytherin as well."

"Oh? It's not too often that I get a request," laughed the hat. "Are you sure you want to go there? I don't think you'll quite fit in as well as you would in Ravenclaw. You even knew before coming here I see. Very well then…"

"But please remember Narcissa. You will tell her to go to Slytherin as well."

"It seems my job is in danger," the hat laughed again. "You think she might go to Hufflepuff do you? Well if she feels she needs to go to Slytherin I will oblige her request and no one else's."

"Then it is a deal then," Andromeda said feeling at peace. "Thank you."

"You would have made a great contribution to the house of Ravenclaw," he said with a bit of sadness. "Slytherin!"

She jumped off of the stool and happily raced over to her sister. She mildly noticed the disappointed look on Ted's face, but she never felt so free. She was safe and so was her silly sister. What more could she ask?


"Did you hear about that boy Ted?" Andromeda stopped and stood perfectly still. It had been a month of solitude except for Ted occasionally saying hi whenever they had crossed paths. Not even her peers in Slytherin would voluntarily talk to her. It felt as if everyone was afraid of her, but now she was the one who was afraid.

"Yeah… I heard that he just got out of the infirmary. Everyone knows it was Bellatrix, but no one can prove it."

"Besides," another girl said. "If any of us were to tell the professors we'll be the ones targeted next."

"It's the strangest thing though. I've overheard Bellatrix threatening him. I don't ever remember her giving any muggleborns any warnings before."

"Well Bellatrix wasn't alone. Rodulphus was supposed to have been there too. They are just so vile. Why can't they leave people alone?"

Andromeda sank against a wall as she listened to the girls gossip about her sister and Ted. "It must have been Rodulphus. That night, he must have told her that I had been looking for Ted," she thought angrily. She suddenly shot up with her fists clenched. She turned the corner and saw the frightened look of the girls. "What exactly happened," she asked furiously.


Andromeda saw that Ted was sitting alone by the lake admiring the calm. She longed for a feeling of calm too. As she got closer she saw that there were bright red scribbles on the back of his neck. "Hey Ted," she said cautiously.

He jumped up and covered his neck. "Oh hey!" He smiled but he was clearly frightened.

Andromeda looked down at the ground with a tear coming from her eye. "I came to check up on you. I'm so sorry that she did this to you."

"N..n…no!" The boy looked frantic. "Your sister seems to love you very much. You were right about earlier though. Even the head boy Rydus came to warn me about Bellatrix." His voice faded into a whisper.

"Rydus?" Andromeda saw that he wasn't going to say any further. "I will speak to her…"

"No!" Ted looked soft again, "I'm sorry. I just think that would make things worse."

"I see," said Andromeda sadly. She sat down on the grass looking at the lake. "I'm a lot like my family, Ted. I'm selfish. I should've never spoken to you…" She stared at the lake. "It's funny. At home, all I wanted to do was to be by myself but now that I'm here I feel that void of not having anyone to talk to."

"Well perhaps it would be easier for the both of us to meet here." Ted looked as if he were thinking the situation over. "I always come down here to practice my spells and to meditate. I haven't met anyone else here all this time."

"Here is fine," Andromeda said with a smile. Underneath that smile was disappointment, but she would take any small victory granted to her. "In fact, I insist. I have to look like a strong member of the Slytherine house anyway."

"About that…"

"Go on," she said encouragingly.

"Everyone said that the Sorting Hat took much longer to sort you than most people."

"Will you keep it secret," she asked hoping he would say yes. Her story had been bubbling inside her all of this time, but there was no one she could tell. He nodded to Andromeda's great pleasure. "He was trying to convince me to go to Ravenclaw."

"You can decide?" Ted was clearly astonished.

"Yes, you can."

"Why didn't you want to be in Ravenclaw?"

"For one, my sister. Secondly, I'm more welcomed there than any other house. Thirdly, I haven't a clue what sort of punishment my parents would have in store for me. You will keep it a secret, right?"

"Of course! I knew that my classmates were wrong to think that you were the same as your sister. You really are quite amazing!" He didn't notice Andromeda's awkward expression. He took out his wand and exclaimed, "While you are here though, we will make the best of it, won't we?" He waved his wand letting a small gush of light come out of it. "I've been working on the Patronus Charm. I've heard that it is very difficult spell to work with."

"Together we can conquer it," said Andromeda with determination.

"I'm sure we will. I guess you already cast that spell on your sister's bird."

"I did."

"Well learning the Patronus charm can by quite time consuming anyway. Let me tell you how to start."