Chapter 10

Looking at herself in the mirror one last time, Hermione smiled. She looked good, if she might say so herself.

Her dress went to her mid-thigh, and had a closed collar. At the lower edge, it was an opaque black, that reflected any light that hit it directly in a sparkling silver. Moving upwards, the opaque black colour made way to stars of different sizes, becoming more and more scattered, until the dress was a dark blue chiffon at her neck.

She had found the dress at Potter Manor, and had immediately fallen in love with it. It did have short sleeves, however, so she had to modify it. Luckily, she had found some leftover fabric and notes on how the dress was enchanted and the two fabrics fused to get the effect she wanted, and Hermione had been surprised at how naturally the sewing came to her. She had never thought herself talented at crafts such as these, considering the failure her knitted elf hats were in Fifth Year.

It was actually very calming and had helped her feel more at home in a Manor and Family that were, for all intents and purposes, completely foreign to her. What had happened to that peace? Hermione didn't know.

When she had received the invitation to attend the unofficial Halloween Party Professor Slughorn was throwing, she had felt lost, but also excited at the same time. This was her chance to corner Andromeda! However, the excitement was soon pushed aside by feelings of anxiety. There was a reason she had been so glad to have an excuse to not attend the first Slug Club meeting, after all.

And to make matters even worse, they were required to wear a costume! She didn't have a costume, and she didn't want one. It would only serve to make her more insecure than she was already. And then, looking through her trunk and trying to find something 'normal' she could pass off as a costume, or change to be so, she had come across this dress.

And with it, the feel of the magic imbued in it that resonated with her on a level that she had never noticed before this summer, came the good memories. The feeling of peace and belonging that had all but vanished when she had come back to Hogwarts. She knew, she would be wearing that dress, period. With the long sleeves added, opaque at the wrists and becoming more sheer as they moved up to the shoulders, with the same stars that were on the main body of the dress, her scar would be covered. She had made sure of that.

Now there was only the question of who or what she was supposed to be. Last night, just before falling asleep, she had suddenly remembered. On her eighth birthday her parents had taken her to view a children's adaption of Mozart's opera "the Magic Flute". And there was the Queen of the Night, that had worn a somewhat similar dress. With black and blue, and the stars, it fit perfectly. So, Hermione had put her hair up in a messy bun, some strands framing her face, and conjured a few sparkling fake-diamonds, that complimented the silver reflections of the black fabric perfectly.

A hint of makeup, and here she stood. Smiling at herself in the mirror, and truly feeling good.

"I like your dress", a voice said from behind Hermione.

In the mirror, she could see one of her dorm mates approaching. Both Annalena and Melissa had been invited to the Slug Club party as well.

"Thank you, Annalena", Hermione replied.

Annalena Gamp was someone Hermione wasn't sure if she liked. On the surface, she was a very nice girl. There wasn't really anything that stood out about her, except maybe that she was better looking than the average girl. Tall, long straight brown hair, blue eyes. A perfectly oval shaped face, and well proportioned body. But there was something about her that just rubbed Hermione the wrong way, why she would probably never become real friends with her.

Annalena was a Gamp, the three times great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Gamp, who had established Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and its five exceptions, and in everything she did there was this underlying sense of entitlement because of it. It made her seem somehow fake, and Hermione didn't like it.

The other Gryffindor girl in her year that had been invited was Melissa Vaughn. Whom she liked even less. Melissa was muggleborn, like herself, but her family was incredibly rich, and Melissa accordingly arrogant and spoiled. To Hermione, who had lived in a tent for a whole year, it was just incredibly shallow, and grating on her nerves.

Not that the Potters were poor, mind you, but she didn't flaunt her wealth like that. And she had always hated people being so insistent their material possessions made them somehow superior. One had to only look at the old pureblood families to know that wasn't true.

"I like your costume as well", Hermione said.

She really didn't. Annalena looked ridiculous. She was in a blindingly white dress, floor length, that shimmered golden when the light hit at the right angle, and had a horn on her forehead. A perfect replica – hopefully a replica – of a unicorn's horn.

"Thank you", Annalena smiled. "What are you supposed to be?", she asked.

The first of many... Hermione sighed internally.

"I'm the Queen of the Night."

At Annalena's blank look, she elaborated.

"She's a character of the opera 'the Magic Flute' by Mozart."

"I've never heard of him", Annalena said, in a tone that clearly implied something along the lines of 'are you sure he really exists?'.

"He was a muggle composer of the late 18th Century", Melissa said. "Said to have been a miracle child", she added, as she fully stepped out of the bathroom. "You look nice, both of you."

"Thanks", they answered at the same time.

"So do you, Melissa", Hermione added.

And as much as she hated to admit it, Melissa really did look good. Her chin length blonde hair was in soft curls, playfully surrounding the cat ears on her head. Her dress was knee-length and all black, with complicated patterns stitched on it. Oh, and she had a cat tail. That moved. Hermione had actually seen things like that before. Elaborately enchanted costumes like that were something not many people wore, and there was a reason for that.

One, there were only a few people licensed to make them, as it was very complicated to arrange it so the magic wouldn't burn through the cloth and destroy the garment in an inopportune moment. Two, it was very easy to hide malevolent enchantments under the guise of it being a costume, and therefore, every single item had to be checked over by an ICW licensed official and marked as safe, otherwise it would be illegal to sell it.

And three, because of reasons one and two, such costumes were incredibly expensive, and not something many people could reasonably afford. Annoyance was rising in Hermione as Melissa thanked her, and underlined it with a graceful wave of her tail. She didn't even think she was jealous, as she absolutely loved the dress she wore, and was infinitely more proud of it than she could be of anything purchased, but it was just the principle of the thing.

This wasn't even an important public event or anything, where such an action might affect public opinion, especially as Melissa was muggleborn, but it was a closed party, at school, with no outside guests – presumably, one never could know for sure where Slughorn was concerned – and anyone she might meet would be a fellow student who had seen her in her regular school uniform often enough. It was just ridiculous, period.

"Thanks", Melissa smiled.

Then, she linked her arms with both Annalena and Hermione, and started walking towards the door.

"Let's go!", she exclaimed excitedly.

Hermione didn't really have much choice but to follow. She also noted that neither of the other two girls had said goodbye to the only girl in their dorm that wasn't invited. Lisa she thought her name was. Melissa continued prattling about how great the party was going to be and the people probably attending, and Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. Some kind of friends they were. Completely ignoring the other girl, just because she hadn't been invited to some stupid exclusive party gathering thing.

True, Hermione hadn't paid her much mind either, but at least she wasn't pretending to be friends with her. They were walking down the stairs of the Common Room now, and Hermione couldn't help a smile starting to spread as her eyes fell on her date for the night. He wore elegant but simple black robes with a black trim that reflected silver. It was the exact same fabric that part of her dress was made of, and she had sewn it on herself. Not that she had told him beforehand. Just lying in his trunk, he wouldn't have noticed a difference anyway, and she supposed it made for a nice surprise.

Gently but firmly, Hermione freed her arm from Melissa's hold and walked towards Gideon. He held his hand out to her and when she placed hers on his palm, he lifted it up and brushed the back of it with his lips. The touch was so light, Hermione almost didn't feel it, and as she rose from the courtesy she had sunk into as he had taken her hand in his, she smiled up at him. She hadn't been able to hide her worry when she had gotten Slughorn's invitation, so of course Gideon noticed. And came to a completely wrong conclusion. He had offered to be her date for the evening in such a way, though, that Hermione couldn't do anything but accept. And now that they were here, she was glad she did, even though it would make things more complicated.

"You look rather fetching in those robes, I have to admit", she said.

"Well, I would certainly hope you think so", Gideon replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "After all, it was not at my initiative that they were modified."

"I'm sorry?", Hermione offered, though she wasn't at all sincere in her apology.

Their outfits needed to be tied together somehow, and unfortunately, wizard's clothing had far less options of successfully doing that without it looking ridiculous.

"You're not", Gideon chuckled. "It's alright, though. I like it."

Hermione mock-scowled at him.

"You better do. I did this by hand, you know."

"If by 'by hand' you mean 'by magic', then sure."

He raised his arm and held it out to the side. Almost automatically, Hermione's hand slid up to settle in the crook of his elbow. Then, Gideon bowed at her.

"My lady, I would be most honoured of you would allow me to escort you to this friendly congregation held in the spirit of Samhain, if not on the day itself."

Hermione giggled and lightly hit his arm.

"Stop it, prat."

"If you so desire, my lady", Gideon replied with a tilt of his head.

Instead of an answer, Hermione strode forward through the portrait hole, pulling Gideon with her.

"You know that I'm supposed to be escorting you and not the other way around, right?"

"I know", Hermione said.

The I don't care was heard clearly between them, even though she didn't explicitly say it. Gideon only laughed. In front of them were Melissa and Annalena, both with their respective dates, completely ignoring Hermione and Gideon.

"Is your brother angry that he's not going?", Hermione asked after a few minutes.

"Not at all", Gideon replied. "He doesn't care about this kind of thing, not really. Also, he says he sees enough of Slughorn in Potions."

"True", Hermione said.

They passed the rest of the way in companionable silence, that was only broken by the talking of the two couples in front of them. The nearer they got to Slughorn's office, however, the louder it got. His door was open, and there were already many people there, all laughing and talking and exchanging greetings.

"Come in, come in!"

Slughorn was standing at the entrance, waving to the Gryffindors and smiling jovially. Hermione had to admit that the office looked great. Bats and pumpkins were floating in the air, and the whole room had a friendly yet somewhat spooky atmosphere. Also, there were probably quite a few extension charms on it, to be able to hold so many people without it getting uncomfortably claustrophobic.

It didn't change the fact that the air was heavy with the smell of food, and it was extremely warm in the room. For just a moment, Hermione regretted her long sleeves, but they were necessary, and they looked good.

"So, where to first", Gideon asked.

As an answer, Hermione shrugged.

"I have no clue. Most of the people here I don't even know by name. It's my first time attending one of these things as well, you know."

"It is?", Gideon said surprised. "You've been getting invited for at least two years straight before this."

"Doesn't mean I actually accepted the invitations."

Gideon laughed.

"Only you!"

"Only I what?"

"Only you would turn down a perfect opportunity to network and connect with other promising students for no apparent reason."

"There is a reason", Hermione defended herself. "I don't want recognition for just my family name. I want it for what I actually did."

"Alright", Gideon replied. "I can understand that. But what changed?"

Yes, outwardly, what did change? It wasn't like she acted like she wanted to be there. Okay, maybe she did want to be there in reality, but not because of the party or networking opportunities. And nobody knew about that. And it wasn't exactly something she could tell Gideon, either.

"My OWLs", Hermione said instead.

"What about them?", Gideon asked. "I know you took them later, but what has that to do with anything?"

"I had near perfect scores", Hermione said.

"Not bad", he said, sounding impressed. "And you think that's why Slughorn invited you this time?"

Hermione laughed dryly.

"No. Slughorn invited me for the same reason he always has. My parents and my last name. And my grades to a certain extent, I suppose."

Gideon had a slightly contemplative look on his face, before he asked his next question.

"Okay, so why did you really come?"

Hermione's expression must have given something away, because Gideon continued.

"Don't give me that look. It's basic logic. You just told me you didn't go before because you didn't want to be here only because of your name. And then you proceeded to tell me that essentially, nothing of that circumstance has changed, and yet here we are."

What was she supposed to say now? She couldn't tell him the truth, but she also had no lie prepared. Why do you have to lie to him?, a voice inside her asked. You can tell him about looking for Andromeda without telling him about everything else. The debt between our Houses it probably common knowledge anyways.

"Let's go sit down", Hermione said and steered Gideon and herself to a corner where there was a low table and five armchairs around it.

"That bad? You don't have to tell me, you know", Gideon said as they were walking. "I was just curious."

For a moment, Hermione was tempted to take the out, but then she reminded herself that she couldn't always do everything by herself, and it really wouldn't do any harm.

"No, it's alright", she said as they sat down.

Then, she surreptitiously cast a wandless Muffliato around them. She felt only slightly bad for using a spell that technically didn't even exist yet.

"I was hoping Andromeda would be here", she said.

"Black?", Gideon asked surprised. "Sister of our Black, Fourth year, Slytherin?"

Hermione nodded.

"Why?" Hermione sighed.

"She saved my life, last summer", she said.

"Wait... you mean when you were in the Hospital Wing for months?"

"Yes. It's only because of her that I survived."

"So you owe her a Life Debt?"

"Not exactly", Hermione said. "It was Formalized in the summer, so House Potter owes a Life Debt to House Black."

"Okay", Gideon replied. "So why do you want to find Andromeda?"

"After the Formalizing ceremony, we started exchanging letters over the summer. And I felt like we were starting to become friends. She's really nice, you know."

Gideon looked a bit disbelieving at that, but Hermione let it go. When the most prominent example one had of what a Black behaved like was Bellatrix, 'nice' was about as far away as one could get from the reality.

"Anyways, on the day of the Opening Feast, she sent me a letter basically saying we couldn't be friends because of the Debt and because of our Houses here at school. It wasn't 'meant to be'."

Hermione could help her sneer at those last three words. Nothing was ever 'meant to be'.

"I take it you want to tell her that's bullshit?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at the curse word, but still nodded.

"Essentially. She's successfully avoided me for almost two months now. But I'm hoping that she can't run away here. It wouldn't look good, you see, and it has become painfully obvious to me how much appearances are worth to her."

"But, you don't actually know she's here, do you?", Gideon pointed out.

"True", Hermione admitted. "However, she's a Black."

Gideon laughed.

"True. So, what do you want to do until she turns up?"

Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know. Sit here, watch people. Possibly continue talking to you, if you're up to it."

"Sounds good", Gideon said.

Hermione smiled at him, and cancelled the spell around them. It didn't seem necessary anymore, and it would be suspicious if nobody would be able to understand what they were saying for the whole evening. After a short bout of silence, Gideon was the first one to speak up.

"Okay, look. I'm really sorry I have to ask, but what are you going as?"

"I could ask you the same thing", Hermione said, her eyes laughing. "Black robes alone don't much inspire anything at all, do they?"

"You've got me there", Gideon replied. "May I point out, however, that thanks to you they aren't completely black anymore?"

"Oh, wow", Hermione rolled her eyes. "That doesn't count, and you know it."

"Don't distract from the question at hand", Gideon said. "What are you?"

At Hermione's look, he quickly elaborated.

"Costume-wise I mean, of course."

Hermione laughed.

"The Queen of the Night", she said in a dramatic voice.

Gideon smirked back at her.

"Well, then I guess you've made it easy for me. I'm the King of the Night."

"The Kind of the Night doesn't exist, though", Hermione pointed out.

"Neither does the Queen of the Night, so I'm in the clear."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Gideon.

"The Queen of the Night does exist. Just because you've never heard of her..."

"Wait, so you mean she's like, a real person?"

"No", Hermione said emphatically. "She's a character. From the Magic Flute."

"So, there's a magical flute that when you play it spits out a Queen of the Night? Like a Genie? What kinds of power does she have?"

"What? No! It's a very well known Muggle opera of the late 17th century. Genies actually exist?"

"Of course Genies exist", a disdainful voice answered Hermione's question from behind her.

Turning around, she saw none other than Bellatrix Black standing there, smiling condescendingly down on her, a seer on her face. It was quite the impressive combination, Hermione had to admit, especially because she managed to still look stunning.

Her black curls were piled high up on her head, a few strands framing her face, her skin was even paler than usual, her lips even redder and her eyes darker, accentuated by the dark makeup around them. Also, she had fangs.

"They are mainly found in oriental countries such as India, however they can be imported to other countries. Here in Britain they are restricted, after an incident that occurred almost five hundred years ago, where a wizard brought one back from his travels and made a lot of not exactly well-worded wish to always have enough money, which caused the second to last goblin rebellion to break out, after the peace treaty of then only five decades earlier was broken."

Spoken had the boy standing next to Bellatrix that Hermione had not noticed before. He certainly falls into the dark-tall-handsome category, she thought. He was about a head taller than herself, and about one and a half heads taller than Bellatrix. He had dark hair and pale skin, and was both wearing dark makeup around his eyes and a pair of fangs in his mouth, like Bellatrix.

It was obvious they had come together. Hermione didn't think he was in their year, however, as she had never noticed him before. She guessed he was Rodolphus Lestrange, considering the whole betrothal contract thing that was apparently still happening in the Wizarding World, but she couldn't be sure.

Also, she wanted nothing to do with him. At all. Looking at him, it was hard to see the person he would become. Harder than with anyone else she had encountered so far that she had known in her other life.

"I don't think she cares", Bellatrix said. "As is embarrassingly clear to see, she doesn't care to be well educated. A shame, really."

"Excuse me?", Hermione said. "I take my education very seriously, thank you very much. My grades are just as good as yours are-" except in practical defence, where I deliberately hold back- "and as has been obvious to me for years, my education is definitely more well rounded than that of most other people here."

"You mean that muggle riff-raff?", probably Lestrange asked.

"It's not riff-raff", Hermione said incensed. "It's culture."

"Whatever you say", Bellatrix waved her off.

Hermione thought she could detect a spark of amusement in her eyes, which made her anger only flare up more. A hand on her thigh gave her enough pause to calm down, and not start hexing the pair. It wouldn't have been an appropriate response at all, and would have ruined the whole evening. And she still had a mission to accomplish.

She sent a thankful smile in Gideon's direction, before changing course.

"At least my costume isn't as uninspired as yours are", she said. "Vampires, really? How much more clichéd could you get?"

Bellatrix cackled softly at that.

"Not much, probably", she admitted. "I thought it rather fitting though this year, considering whom the Headmaster has decided to... employ."

Was she alluding to Professor Mercer? Or was there another new Professor this year? Hermione didn't think so. As far as she could remember, their DADA Professor had been the only new addition to the staff that had been announced at the Welcoming Feast. Would Dumbledore really hire a Vampire, though? This early in the game, if one wanted to put it that way? The curse couldn't have been in effect for that long, so theoretically, he shouldn't have had any problems finding people to fill the post yet. A riddle for another day, she supposed.

"If you say so", Hermione only replied, then silently dismissed the two by turning back around to Gideon.

"Sorry about that", she said.

Internally, however, she was smiling. For the first time, she had gotten the last word in an interaction with Bellatrix. And she had to admit, it felt good.

"No problem at all", Gideon said. "Compared to first year, this was nothing."

And again, an allusion to a life she couldn't remember.

"And thanks for keeping me from hexing them", she added. "I don't know why, but she just brings out the worst in me."

"You're welcome", Gideon replied. "You're sure her sister is different? It's easy to pretend in letters."

"I'm sure", Hermione said with conviction. "I did actually meet her, you know, at the Ceremony. She's different."

As proven by her future.

"I'll have to take your word for it. I did think than if one of them would be different, it would be the youngest, though."

"Narcissa?", Hermione asked surprised. "Why?"

She had married a Malfoy, and even though she had helped them in the end, it had been for her son alone, not because she actually was sorry for her actions or inactions.

"Don't you remember? There've been rumours about her possible illegitimacy ever since she's been Introduced five years ago."

"I've never paid much attention to rumours", she replied.

"I guess you wouldn't have", he said. "You really don't seem like the type. Neither am I, as a matter of fact. My sister, though, she is very much one to gossip. So, I couldn't really not notice."

Considering the rumours Molly had believed about her, written by none other than Rita Skeeter, Hermione could certainly see that.

"Care to enlighten me on the facts?", she jokingly asked, even though she genuinely did want to know.

"Not much to it, really. Narcissa is blonde, whereas most other Blacks have dark hair. She has straight hair, where they have curls. She had blue eyes where they have traditionally brown or grey ones. And she isn't named after a star or constellation, as is Family tradition. That last one is probably the most decisive factor, considering that Cassiopeia Black is also blonde. There's something in her magic that makes it so."

Albinism?, Hermione wondered. Or maybe some other genetic mutation. It would certainly be possible.

"Added to that, the Parkinsons have both traditionally light hair and name their children after flowers and plants, and there you have it."

"Well, is there any truth to it?", Hermione asked.

"In my opinion, not really. I can't really explain the name thing, but I'm reasonably sure Narcissa Black just has the same condition Cassiopeia Black has. Maybe her parents weren't sure she was legitimate, and that's why they refused to give her a 'Black' name, or maybe they wanted her to be set apart from her sisters. I don't know, and honestly, I also don't care."

"I don't really either", Hermione said. "I was just curious."

After a moment of silence, she spoke up again.

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure."

They got both up and walked to the buffet at the other end of the room, where several other people were already filling their plates. In the middle of the office was a big round table, around which you could sit down to eat. Slughorn was there, talking to some boys that Hermione would probably put in fifth year and their dates. Out of the corner of her eye, she also spotted Annalena in her ridiculous dress, standing together with Melissa and another girl Hermione didn't know, their dates nowhere to be seen. Oh, wait, that wasn't true. She had just spotted them at the buffet.

"Is the food any good?", Gideon asked them as they came closer.

"Very good", one of the boys replied.

"That's a relief", Gideon joked. "Probably the only good thing to come out of this."

"Or, to be expected", the second boy said.

Hermione had to do a double take before she recognized him as Johnson. They hadn't really had many interactions, but he was a fellow Prefect and they were in the same year, so it was kind of hard to not know his name.

"Still sore you didn't get an invitation in your own right, Johnson?", the other boy asked.

"Don't be stupid, Ward", Johnson answered. "Like the good food, it was to be expected."

Then, he turned to Gideon.

"Where's your brother?" Gideon just smirked.

"Wasn't invited."

"I find it hard to imagine old Sluggy would invite one of you but not the other", Ward said.

Hermione chuckled. They hadn't even noticed her presence yet.

"You misunderstand, my friends", Gideon replied. "I wasn't invited either. I'm only here as the companion of a fine young lady who was."

"She left you behind as well, then?", Ward asked, looking a little brighter at the thought.

Apparently, that was where his obvious bad mood stemmed from.

"Not exactly", Hermione stepped forward.

"Potter?", Ward asked incredulously.

Hermione just shrugged.

"Since when do you attend these things?", Johnson asked her.

"Since I want something I can probably get only here", she replied.

"What's that?", Ward asked.

"None of your business", Hermione said shortly.

She really didn't like that boy, for some reason.

"Does he know?", he jabbed his finger at Gideon.

"Is that important?", Hermione said.

"Well, yes", Ward answered. "If you share with him, why not me?"

"Because I don't know you?"

"We slept together", Ward said. "I still dream about it, you know. You under me, moaning my name. 'Oh, Connor, yes, just like that!'"

He didn't get further than that before Hermione silenced him. Then, she advanced until their faces were only inches apart.

"You listen to me, Connor Ward, and listen clearly, because I'm not going to repeat myself. This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation. If you want to have it, by all means, go ahead. But, not here and not now. We're in polite company, and while that may not mean not much to you, it does to me. You knew exactly what you were getting into the moment it started, so don't you dare lay any blame whatsoever on me that things didn't turn out the way you wanted them to. No wonder you got left behind by your date. Now, get your head out of your arse and start acting the age you are. Understood?"

Ward only nodded silently. Not that he could do much with his voice still missing.

"Good", Hermione said, stepped back and released the spell on him.

Then, she passed him by and started to pile food on her plate, before sitting down at the round table reserved for eating. Not long after that, both Gideon and Johnson sat down at either side of her. Luckily, their little altercation had gone mostly unnoticed, even though it had happened right at the buffet, so they weren't paid any particular attention.

"That was scary", Gideon said impressed.

"Was it?", Hermione asked. "I didn't much think about it, to be honest. It just came out."

"One more reason to not get on your bad side", Johnson said. "I'm just hoping that as a fellow Prefect, you'll give me a little more leeway."

Hermione sent him a look that said everything.

"You know I won't."

He shrugged.

"Luckily, I'm generally well-behaved."

"That sounds like you're talking about a dog", Gideon laughed.

"I'm not gonna deign that with a reply", Johnson said.

"You do realize that by saying that, you went back on your own word as you were giving it?"

In response to that, he rolled his eyes at Hermione.

"Don't be such a know-it-all, would you?", he said, but without any venom or malice in his words.

"I'll try and hold back as much as I can", Hermione chuckled.

"Good luck with that."

"Can I leave you here for a moment?", Hermione asked Gideon and without even waiting for an answer whirled around and followed the glimpse of curly black hair she had seen exiting the room.

She knew it was Andromeda. Ever since she had spotted her after Slughorn had held his little 'speech' about how glad he was everyone was there and enjoying themselves, Hermione had kept an eye on her. And it had paid off. For all that Slughorn actually wasn't that bad of a host, he didn't have restrooms in his office.

Hermione followed Andromeda closely, taking care that she wouldn't be spotted, and waited at the door. A minute or so later, she exited the restroom, and though Hermione regretted it was necessary, she silently stunned Andromeda and then cast a cushioning charm on the floor before she could hurt herself by falling down.

She didn't take her far, only to the next classroom, and put up wards before preventively casting a shield charm and reviving Andromeda. Which proved to have been a good decision, judging by the freezing curse Andromeda immediately threw at her. That would have been painful, had it hit. And cold.

Luckily Andromeda lowered her wand before she had to retaliate. She had wanted this to be a conversation, not a duel.

"What do you want?", Andromeda asked, suspicion clear in her voice.

Alright, so maybe essentially abducting her hadn't been the smartest of all strategies, but it was now too late for that anyway, wasn't it?

"I wanted to talk."

"You could have done that without the whole knocking me out thing."

"I wanted to be sure you would listen to me, and for that I had to get you alone."

"And you believe after assaulting me you will have a better chance at talking than if you had just walked up to me like a regular person?"

"Well, yes. That's why I did it."

Andromeda laughed at that.

"You're lucky I'm in a fairly good mood. Get to the point and I won't press charges."

What happened to the girl I met in the summer?, Hermione thought. She's so different now. Cold and calculating. She had come with the intention to talk, however, so that's what she would do.

"Why have you been avoiding me? I don't buy the whole politics stuff."

"What does it matter?"

"When we talked, after the Formalization, you weren't this cold."

"Again, what does it matter? What's it to you, anyway? You have every reason to hate me."

"Do I?", Hermione asked surprised. "I'm sure I've said it before, and if I haven't, I'll say it now. You are not your sister. It doesn't matter how much I like or dislike her, that doesn't automatically extend to you. You might look like twins, but you aren't the same person. I know you are different. And I think you want to be friends with me. You could have just ignored me reaching out, but you didn't."

"But I should have", Andromeda whispered.

All the coldness had drained away from her expression, and Hermione could finally see beyond the mask to the person she had seen that very first time they had met, the person she knew Andromeda would become.

"Why?", Hermione asked softly. "And don't tell me it's because I'm a Gryffindor, or a Potter", she added before Andromeda had time to respond.

"I-"

It was clear to see that she was struggling with something. And dammit, Hermione desperately wanted to help, but she didn't know how. She couldn't even begin to understand what was going through Andromeda's head right now.

"It's because of Bella, alright?", she burst out after several minutes of tense silence.

"Bellatrix?", Hermione asked to clarify, even though she was sure she had understood correctly.

"Yes. She has this... I don't know, obsession with you. And, I mean, I love her, she's my sister, of course I love her, but... she's powerful. And she knows it. And she can be scary. I mean, not that I'm afraid of her or anything, but..."

Hermione was dumbstruck. Andromeda's rambling didn't really explain anything, but then at the same time, it explained so much. Bellatrix Black and Hermione Potter had a history, she'd known that much, but it seemed to reach deeper than some sort of school-girl rivalry. And while Hermione had no idea what to do with that kind of information, it had obviously resulted in Andromeda being afraid of the repercussions of their friendship.

Handed out by her own sister.

If she had read between the lines correctly, that is.

It's a good thing, a part of Hermione's mind whispered. The sooner she realized what Bellatrix really is, the easier it will be for her to renounce her Family. Her heart wasn't in it, however. Andromeda loved her sister, and even if it would make things so much harder for her later on,

Hermione couldn't find it in herself to make Andromeda choose. Choose between her family, the people she had been closest to her whole life, or a girl she didn't even really know, a girl she had exchanged a few letters with over the summer. It would be a choice, that much Hermione was sure of, because Bellatrix didn't seem like someone open to compromises.

And, she admitted to herself, it wasn't only because she didn't want to force Andromeda to choose. No, she was afraid Andromeda would choose Bellatrix over her.

"Am I right in the assumption that Bellatrix would rather we weren't friends?"

Andromeda nodded.

Hermione sighed. Andromeda had found her way once already, without her influence. She had hoped she could maybe make it easier, but so far, it seemed she had only made it worse. It looked like the best course of action would be to step back and let things work themselves out.

"Then I will refrain from acting as such", Hermione simply said.

ust like that?", Andromeda asked astonished.

"Just like that", Hermione confirmed. "I won't ever make you choose between your family and myself."

Then, she turned around and cancelled the wards protecting the room.

"I think we better get back to the party. And I'm sorry for stunning you. I didn't think I could make this conversation happen otherwise."

"It's alright, no hard feelings", Andromeda replied with a small smile. "I don't think you would have been able to get a hold of me any other way, to be honest. I was avoiding you."

"Well, then...", Hermione trailed off. "If you ever do need my help, I'll do my best to be there for you."

"Thank you", Andromeda said softly.

Laughter and talking could be heard coming from ahead of them, and Hermione suddenly stopped walking.

"What?", Andromeda asked, once she noticed Hermione wasn't beside her anymore.

"You go ahead, I'll wait here for a bit. It wouldn't do for us to be seen together, now would it?"

A small chuckle and a smile was the only answer Hermione got before Andromeda turned around and walked off. Hermione could feel her masks sliding on even without seeing her face, just from the way the other witch carried herself. It saddened her to see it was necessary, but ultimately, she knew she had made the right decision.

Andromeda might have been different from her sisters, but she was also a fourteen-year-old girl. Things would work themselves out in due time. And if they didn't, Hermione could still interfere, right?

At long last, a new chapter. Unfortunately, I cannot promise the update speed to pick up again anytime soon. Too much to do and too little time to do it...

If you have anything to say at all, thoughts, comments, reactions, please leave me a review! They always make me happy :)