By the time Bellatrix had managed to get Andromeda's hair into a pair of braids that were tidy enough to satisfy Druella's expectations and knotted them with green ribbons, guests were already starting to arrive.
"Oh damn," Bellatrix whispered when she heard the shrill voice of their aunt Walburga downstairs. "She's going to tell Mother that she didn't get that baby blanket from me now…"
"You shouldn't have thrown it into the fire," Andromeda said, tugging on her braids and turning her head to examine the effect from all angles in the mirror. "You were almost done anyway."
"Oh shut up, Andi, that sounds like something that Cissy would say!" snapped Bellatrix.
Andromeda immediately shrunk, bowing her head and folding her hands in her lap, chewing on her lip. The last person in the world who she wanted Bellatrix to compare her to – except perhaps their mother – was Narcissa, and it stung.
"Oh for the love of…" Bellatrix mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Stop being so sensitive, Andromeda!"
Andromeda nodded, swallowing back the lump forming in her throat.
"All right," Bellatrix said, quickly scooping her own mass of black curls into a knot on the crown of her head and taking Andromeda by the wrist, "Let's go downstairs, then. The sooner we're down, the sooner supper can start, and the sooner this whole thing can be over."
Andromeda nodded again, and the second the girls were down the stairs, they were all but smothered by the guests.
Uncle Alphard was the first one to get over to them, and he pulled both girls into tight hugs. Andromeda would have been quite happy for things to stay this way – her and Bellatrix and Uncle Alphard together, while everyone else ignored them – but they scarcely had three seconds together before Uncle Alphard was pulled sharply away.
"Your behaviour is most unseemly," Walburga said sternly, before turning on the two girls. "Don't either of you have a kiss for your aunt?"
The night did not improve from there.
Andromeda's private opinion of Aunt Walburga was less that she was the well-intentioned but strict woman that the rest of the world seemed to believe her to be, and that she was, in fact, simply a cruel, cruel woman who enjoyed seeing other people, and especially children, miserable and in pain. That was, Andromeda thought as she stood on tiptoes to reach her aunt's cheek, the only reason that she would ever insist that they kissed her. Druella never insisted that anyone kiss her…
Once the bulk of the adults had spent a few moments in false fawning over Andromeda and Bellatrix, and had moved on to Narcissa, the two girls were ushered into the parlour, where the other children were already seated.
Bellatrix took no time in going over to the couch, dragging Andromeda along behind her, and sitting down next to Rodolphus Lestrange.
This came as a shock to Andromeda – after all, she and Bellatrix had always considered the Lestrange boys to be rather stupid and unpleasant and not worth their time. Andromeda felt a stirring of some unpleasant emotion in her stomach as Bellatrix smiled at Rodolphus.
She cast her eyes around the room. Lucius Malfoy, who was her age, was apparently doing everything he could to appear to be the best-bred, most important out of all the children there, sitting up as straight as he could and keeping his face a mask of indifference, though there wasn't anyone to see them. Rabastan Lestrange was curled up on the other side of Rodolphus, almost mirroring the way Andromeda curled against Bellatrix, except that unlike Andromeda, he was nervously biting his thumbnail, casting constant worried glances around the parlour.
The door swung open and Uncle Alphard stepped in, looking harried and quickly shutting the door behind him. He heaved a sigh, then looked around at the children.
"You five don't mind if I join you in here, do you?" he asked. "I think I'll go mad if I have to spend one more minute listening to those people out there." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the door, outside of which there were the sounds of the adults making forced conversation.
"Of course we don't mind!" Bellatrix spoke for the whole group. Uncle Alphard smiled easily, and sank into an armchair.
"It would seem we're three short…" he said. "Where are Narcissa, Sirius and Regulus? Shouldn't they be here?"
"No." Once again, Bellatrix spoke for all of them. "They're out there. They're all little enough to get shown off."
"Like dolls," Andromeda added, quietly enough that no one really heard her.
Uncle Alphard grinned. "Well, aren't you five happy that you're old enough that you can stay here?"
There was a general murmur of agreement, then the room fell silent.
"Oh, good Lord," Uncle Alphard said. "Honestly… you don't want to be all boring and silent like them, do you?" Once again, he used his thumb to point over his shoulder, indicating the door to the rest of the house. "Come on… let's talk about something… do you want to hear a story?"
Another general murmur of agreement went through the group, though this one was far more excited in tone than the last. Alphard looked rather proud of himself.
"Good," he said. "What sort of story shall it be, then? Shall we have… a Muggle fairy tale? A story from history? Maybe I could tell you something about a friend of mine?"
"Whatever you like, sir," Lucius put in. "We would be happy to hear any story you wish to tell us."
"Oh, don't sound so stuck-up, Malfoy," snapped Bellatrix. "Tell us a story about a friend, Uncle Alphard," she ordered.
Uncle Alphard chuckled. "Yes, ma'am!"
He leaned back in his chair, taking his time in thoughtfully pulling a pipe from the pocket of his robes. He tapped a little tobacco into it, then used his wand to light it and put the end between his lips, inhaling then letting out a perfect smoke ring. The scent was pleasant, in a strange and bitter way, and Andromeda found a tiny smile forming on her lips.
"Well," he said at last, "I have a friend… her name is Anna… and I met her in France, where she was travelling with her wife–"
"Husband," Andromeda corrected automatically.
Uncle Alphard looked at her, raising an eyebrow, and suddenly Andromeda felt very nervous.
"Her… husband?" she repeated tentatively. "Anna was travelling in France with her husband…?"
"No," Uncle Alphard said, shaking his head. "With her wife."
"But… Anna… is a woman's name… how can a woman have a wife?" Andromeda was confused, and she looked around at the other children for support. None of them seemed to understand any more than she – or, at least, Lucius, Rodolphus and Rabastan didn't seem to understand any more than she. Bellatrix's expression was utterly inscrutable.
"Because she was in love with her," said Uncle Alphard, as though the answer should have been obvious.
"But- but two women can't fall in love… can they? Two women can't get married…"
"Of course they can." Uncle Alphard took another draw from his pipe and blew out a long jet of smoke. "Obviously, they're not really supposed to get married if they're Purebloods and need to carry on the family line," he added, "But yes, two women most certainly can fall in love… and if their circumstances are right, sometimes two woman can get married."
He continued with his story – something about Anna getting lost in the catacombs underneath Paris – but though Andromeda kept her eyes on Uncle Alphard and nodded and looked frightened and excited at all the right times, she was not listening to him.
What a strange idea, she thought – being allowed to marry another woman. Andromeda had always quite dreaded growing up and having to marry a man. Of course, Alphard had said that Purebloods weren't supposed to… but Andromeda couldn't quite help imagining how much nicer it would be to marry a woman than a man.
Who would she marry if she could?
She didn't know… but as she sat through Alphard's story while idly imagining her wedding having two brides, she found that, in her imagination, the other bride had Bellatrix's face…
"Andromeda… wake up."
Andromeda started. She looked over, and saw Bellatrix, prodding her lightly in the arm.
"I am awake."
"You were completely out of it," Bellatrix told her. "Just staring off into the distance… and we've been called for supper." She looked pointedly around the room, which was empty except for the two of them.
"Oh…" Andromeda said, her voice slightly dazed. "Sorry…"
"What were you thinking about?" Bellatrix asked.
"Nothing," Andromeda said immediately. "I was just…" She shrugged. She most certainly was not going to tell Bellatrix that she had been thinking about Anna and her wife.
"Well, come on, then," Bellatrix told her. "Supper's going to be unbearable, and I'm not going to go through it if I don't have you."
Andromeda went willingly with her sister to the dining room, beaming with pride at being wanted by Bellatrix.
