Andromeda woke up on Saturday morning feeling as though she had not slept in days. It took her a moment to remember why, but then her fight with Ted flashed across her mind. She'd hoped, perhaps unconsciously, that when she woke up this morning the events of yesterday would turn out to be nightmare, but this morning had come, and they were still a reality. She sat up quickly after that, looking for her robes. Remembering the cold way Ted looked at her made her feel like she was being eaten from the inside out. At least the Hufflepuff girl was safe. She supposed that was all she should really be worried about.

But that feeling in her core did not lessen, even as she stood up and made her way outside. The fifth year girls we're just waking up as well, their yawning keep them from being quite as chatty as normal. Andromeda scanned the group, looking for Narcissa, but frowned when she could not find her. Had she already gone down to breakfast? Not likely, it wasn't even eight yet. But then that meant she was still in her room. With a quick glance at the fifth years she darted to their door. She might not get another opportunity to speak to her sister alone.

"Narcissa?" she said as carefully pushed the door open. Then she froze, her mouth opening.

Her sister was in nothing but undergarments, though that wasn't what attracted Andromeda's attention. There was a bruise right below her sister's collarbone. It was large, about the size of apple, and deep purple surrounded by green and blue patches.

Narcissa's head shot up, her face mutinous, but she paused for only a second before grabbing her robe off her dresser and slipping it over her head. Though not before Andromeda caught sight a few smaller bruises on her upper arms.

"How did you get those?" she breathed, eyes still glued where the massive bruise had been.

"Nowhere. They're nothing," her sister said, not meeting her eyes as she haphazardly grabbed items around her room and shoved them into her bag.

"That's not nothing," Andromeda said, stepping further into the room.

"I just… tripped on the stairs," Narcissa said, still not looking at her.

"Down two flights?"

Narcissa didn't answer, but her shoulders shook, like she was trying not tremble.

Andromeda stepped further into the room. "Did you go to the hospital wing?"

"No," he sister scoffed, too loudly. "It's nothing."

"Narcissa, you should really…"

"Don't you have your own problems to deal with, Meda?" Her sister looked up glaring, but before Andromeda had a chance to respond she grabbed her bag. Perhaps she should let her go, but she couldn't.

"I'm just worried about you," she said, trying to sound as soft as possible. She'd do anything if it meant Narcissa would stop acting like this.

For a moment, she thought it worked. Narcissa stopped just by the door, hesitating. Her shoulders heaved, like she was releasing something.

"Don't," she said finally, "I'm fine."

She looked at the ground as she said this, which meant she was anything but.

"If you'd just let Madame Pomfrey have quick look," she started, but Narcissa wasn't listening as she opened the door and then slammed it shut behind her.

If she really had fallen down the stairs, then why was she so afraid to go to Madame Pomfrey? Assuming stairs could even make those kind of injuries, it didn't make sense. And therein lay her answer. He sister had lied to her, again. Whatever was going on with Cissa, it was getting worse, and who knew how bad it would get before she came to her senses?

Andromeda dressed as quickly as she could, almost forgetting socks in her haste to get down to the great hall. Her sister was already surrounded by her friends. The only seat available was next to Bellatrix, considering Evan Rosier, her boy toy, was still in the Hospital Wing. Her belly did an uncomfortable flip, but she ignored it as she sat down next to her eldest sister. Bella raised her eyebrow, but otherwise made no comment.

She glanced toward Narcissa, but her sister was determinedly avoiding her gaze, mindlessly moving her uneaten food on her plate.

Just as Andromeda opened her mouth to say something— anything, to get her sister's attention. Narcissa stood up. She offered a quick goodbye to her friends, and, still resolutely avoiding Andromeda's gaze, strode away from the table. Andromeda had not yet had a chance to eat anything, yet she stood up to follow her sister nonetheless. She only taken one step when Bella grabbed her upper arm. She met Andromeda's gaze briefly before flicking her to her left. Andromeda glanced over to see Rabastan striding toward her. Her stomach did an uncomfortable flip. Bellatrix gave her another meaningful look, her eyes narrowed in the, "do this or else" variety, before pulling down sharply on Andromeda's elbow, forcing her to sit, just as Rabastan came and sat down next to her.

Stomach clenching, she resisted the urge to glare at her sister, not she'd had the nerve to do that for a few years now, and gave Rabastan a polite smile. He returned it with a curt nod, his eyes cold. He was clearly remembering their last conversation, in which he threatened to give up trying to create a stable relationship with her. A bad sign for any marriage, especially considering they were still over a year away from actually being married. She hadn't spoken to him much since then. She no longer avoided him, but she didn't go out of her way to speak to him either.

Rabastan still wasn't looking her, rather eating his breakfast silently. Sighing, she glanced at her own plate, only to see that Bella was watching her. She made an impatient gesture at Rabastan.

Swallowing the bitter taste in her mouth, she turned again toward her distant fiancé.

"So," she said, hoping he'd jump in, but he continued to eat, ignoring her. Or maybe he just hadn't heard her. She had spoken very quietly.

She sighed, loudly, as though hoping that would attract his attention, but still nothing. She'd ever had to start their conversations before, he'd always supplied something.

"How's your brother?" Rodolphus was the last thing she wanted to talk about, especially Rabastan, but she could think of nothing else.

He'd definitely heard her this time, yet he did not look up. He must be ignoring her on purpose. Well, at least she had tried.

"Better," Rabastan sudden reply made her flinch. "He was pretty bitter yesterday, but he's back to his usual self today."

His usual self wasn't bitter? She decided to keep that thought to herself. "All the boils are gone then."

"Mostly," Rabastan replied, still not looking up from his food.

"Good." She forced a smile, which he didn't even see. Nor did he say anything else, causing them to lapse into silence again.

Twice Andromeda tried to say something, but her inability to think of anything forced her to disguise it as a cough. Both times.

"Rabastan," Bella said finally, toward the end of Breakfast hour. "You're coming with your family to our manor for Christmas, yes?"

"Of course," Rabastan said, "Wouldn't miss it for anything."

Meda wasn't sure, but she thought she detected a faint hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"You won't regret it," Bella said, digging into her potatoes with relish. "Andromeda spends most of it delighting us with her voice."

Andromeda dropped her fork with a resounding clatter.

Rabastan finally looked over at her, eyebrows raised. "You sing?"

"No,' she said to him, the turned her head to glare at her sister. "I don't."

"She has an unforgettable rendition of God Bless Ye Merry Hyppogriffs," Bella said with a perfectly straight face, though she flashed Andromeda a grin afterwards.

Rabastan was grinning a little too. "I look forward to it."

"No," Andromeda said, turning back to him, "You aren't." With another glare at her sister, who tried to look innocent, a weird look for her, she left.

But when she looked back and caught Rabastan's gaze, she smiled.

She went to look for Narcissa, though she didn't see her again until lunch. This time she managed to sit next to her. Narcissa stiffened, but otherwise didn't react. Since Andromeda had half expected her to get up and leave, she took this as a positive sign.

"Can we talk?" She said softly

"I told you, I have nothing to say," Narcissa said curtly, tensing up again.

"Not about that," Andromeda said quickly, even though that had been what she wanted to talk about. She'd learn from trying to force it out Narcissa though.

"How are you keeping up with your O.W.L homework? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Narcissa was silent, breathing heavily. Then, "Now that you mention it, Professor McGonagall was been nagging me about my…" she looked up, and trailed off.

Andromeda followed her gaze, a slight frown on her lips, but it was soon clear what her sister had seen. Entering the Great Hall were none other than Rodolphus Lestrange and his friends.

Andromeda could practically feel her throat drying, and her heart thumped uncomfortably. The last time she'd seen them they'd been casually discussing turning someone inside out.

She looked back at her sister, to find that she was staring at Rodolphus, as though transfixed. Her lips were pressed into a deformed looking line and her hands were fidgeting nervously in her lap. Rodolphus looked their way, and though his eyes did not rest on Narcissa, she hastily stood up.

"I'm sorry, I—" but it seems she was too distracted to think up an excuse as she scurried away. Andromeda watched her sister leave, her mouth open slightly, before her gaze drifted to Rodolphus. He was watching Narcissa too. There was something odd about his look, he wasn't blinking, and his eyes were gleaming. He reminded her a wolf, the way a wolf might watch its prey.

It was like pressing the button on Ted's movie machine. Everything was fuzzy, until it all clicked into place.

Her sister's odd behavior, it began when she'd started sneaking around with Rodolphus, hadn't it? Andromeda had never understood why Narcissa been so determined to hide her affair, but now…

Swallowing, she glanced down at her hand, before clenching it into a fist. It wasn't quite the size of the apple. She glanced up, over the table, where Rodolphus was holding his fork. His hand was biggee than hers, much closer the size of the bruises on Narcissa.

Her heart, which was pounding moments before, suddenly stopped. Coldness swept over her skin, almost like her blood stopped flowing. She saw her sister's bruises, her scared expression, and the way she flinched away from her in the bathroom that time Andromeda had tried to touch her. She'd assumed it was because Narcissa knew something about Ted, but this fit.

Bile rose in throat. How long had this been happening, exactly? Ever since she'd started dating him? Ever since that time she'd seem on the Hogwart's grounds?

But no, she shook her head, this was crazy right? Rodolphus couldn't be beating her sister. Why would he? She was pureblood. And a Black. Why would he want to hurt her?

How could he dare?

But then she remembered the way Rodolphus had roughly shoved her sister against the wall. And the way he had so casually spoken of turning the Hufflepuff girl inside out. She'd always thought there'd been something off about him, something unsettling, frightening even.

And now she knew what it was.

For some reason, that knowledge seemed to calm her. Maybe it was finally understanding, finally seeing what had eluded her for so long. Of course, this calmness did nothing to lessen the guilt that was now eating away at her insides. Narcissa was her sister. She should've figured out what was going on weeks ago, and if she hadn't been so distracted with Ted, she might have. What's more, now that numbness over her discovery was fading, a new anxiety was taking its place. So she knew, what was she supposed to do now?

Her first thought, of course, was to go to Narcissa, make her see reason, but what if Narcissa ddin't listen to her? What if it only made things worse?

Her next thought, was of course, her parents, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do that either. They screamed until they were both hoarse because she'd stopped Bellatrix from killing someone, how would they respond to this? She wanted to believe they'd do the right thing, protect their youngest daughter, but she couldn't. She didn't trust them.

She let out a long breath, then what? She couldn't do nothing. Not anymore. She glanced over at Rodolphus again, even though doing so made her feel sick.

He was talking to his brother. Andromeda couldn't heart what he saying, but whatever it was made Rabastan laugh.

Andromeda froze. She hadn't thought about this angle before. Her fiance's brother was beating her little sister. She could scarcely force herself to think it, let alone dwell on it, but it was true. The man that Rabastan was chuckling with, had hurt her sister. Badly. Did he know?

She hadn't, so there was no reason to assume he had. But he must realize something was wrong with his brother. Did he not care? Or maybe he was just turning a blind eye, like she had done with Bellatrix for so many years. All things considered, she didn't have a reason to be angry with Rabastan, not without proof that he knew what was happening. It would make her a bigger hypocrite than Amycus.

All the same, her stomach clenched when Rabastan looked over at her and smiled. She did not return it, and was forced to look away before he saw the accusation in her eyes.

Apparently Bellatrix had been watching her, as she was glancing between Rabastan and Andromeda. Upon catching Andromeda's glance, her eyes narrowed. She beckoned Andromeda before standing up at heading to the Entrance Hall.

For the second time today, Andromeda swore something audibly clicked in her brain. She could tell Bellatrix. Bella may be many things, but she'd always been protective of her family. When Dolohov had called Andromeda a prat because she'd refused to hex a muggleborn who run into her as a first year, Bellatrix had performed the scourgify jinx on him so many times he was sent to the Hospital Wing because he couldn't stop coughing up soap suds. And when this Gryffindor boy had hit on Narcissa, she'd strung him up by his ankles and threatened to drop him from twenty feet up. When Professor McGonagall told her to bring him down, she did.

Luckily Professor McGongall managed to slow his fall before he broke his neck.

People had got the message; don't mess around with Bella Black's little sisters.

Andromeda stood up, keeping her eyes on Bella as she hurried out into the entrance hall. A lot had changed since then, but they were still family. Bella would want to protect Narcissa, wouldn't she? Besides, if there was one thing her sister mate hate more than muggleborns and bloodtraitors, it was misogynists. She'd never let Rodolphus do this to their sister.