So it is now midnight . . . on a work night . . . I will not get much sleep now but who cares, I wrote a chapter! hahaha I got a little determined to finish this tonight. So please please please do read, enjoy and review!

Andromeda took a deep breath as she sat on her bed, watching her mother knelt over her trunk as she made sure she had everything packed. The eleven-year-old clenched her fists in the material of her dress, closing her eyes as she tried to calm her nerves. She almost jumped in fright as in no time at all she felt the space on the bed next to her dip slightly as she looked up to see her blonde mother smiling down at her.

"What's wrong, princess?" Dora sighed, tucking a strand of black hair behind her daughter's hair.

Andromeda sighed "Nothing . . ."

"Liar." Dora smirked as she wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders, pulling her in close to her.

"I'm just—" Andromeda hesitated before she leant into her mother's side "nervous, I guess."

"Why?" Dora frowned, kissing the girl's head "You're going to be great. Besides you're never nervous. Ever since you were a little girl you've been bounding these halls bursting with confidence."

"Thanks." Andy laughed before she looked up to her mother, considering her for a moment before she spoke again "You'll write to me, won't you?"

"Every day." Dora smiled.

"Maybe not every day. More like . . . Every other day?" Andy blushed as she looked down to her feet, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Deal." Dora laughed before she gave her daughter one last squeeze, getting up to shut her trunk for her "Come on, the boys are already downstairs waiting to go. I might have told them I'd come get you then be back downstairs in five minutes."

"Mum . . . We've been sat here for at least ten." Andromeda gasped "We're going to miss the train!"

"We are not." Dora laughed, levitating the girl's trunk before she took her by the hand, leading her to the waiting boys in the main entry way.

"Ready ladies?" Remus smiled coyly at the pair as Dora winked at him with her special smile she reserved only for her husband.

"Are you ready?" Dora asked.

"Nymphadora the poor souls have been stood there waiting for you two for the last twenty minutes." Rabastan rolled his eyes, looking up from the chair in the hallway.

"Oh shush." Dora giggled.

Andromeda took a deep breath before she ran over to her Uncle, hugging him tight. She closed her eyes and buried his head in his robes "Why can't you come, Uncle Rab?" the girl mumbled, enticing a chuckle in the man.

"I don't want to take the limelight from you now do I?" Rabastan whispered as he kissed the girls head "I'm extremely famous, you know."

Andromeda rolled her eyes before she stepped back, raising an eyebrow at her Uncle "You're an ex-Death Eater, so is Mum, Dad is an ex-Order Member and there are enough rumours floating around about me according to Dad's books that the four of us will gain enough attention without adding another ex-Death Eater to the mix."

Rabastan laughed before he ruffled the girl's hair, grinning at her scowl of annoyance "You are too smart for your own good missy. But no, I'll see you at Christmas."

Andromeda narrowed her eyes at the man in jest as with a small smirk and a wave he walked off to go and find entertainment in another part of the manor. The girl let out a small huff as she turned around to face the rest of her family, not missing her mother now grasping on to the bottom of her left sleeve nor the slightly forced smile she gave her.

"Can we please go now?" Teddy groaned.

"Yeah." Dora breathed, reaching her hand out for her daughter as she took her trunk in her spare hand.

Andromeda rushed up to her, grabbing onto her hand as she welcomed the feel of side-along-apparation. She ignored the stares that the family got as certain parents even seemed to purposely steer their children out of the way of them, others giving an almost sympathetic look at her father. She didn't understand it herself, her mother hadn't been that evil in the war. She'd made a point in recent years of being very open with her children about the war, ever since Teddy had finished his first year at school. Sure there were things that Nymphadora didn't tell her youngest child that her older brother got to hear, and yes she was sure that there were things that she wouldn't tell either of them at their age. Andromeda Lupin was not an idiot, she considered herself to be very smart actually. She was sure she could find out anything she wanted to at Hogwarts anyway. The gentle squeeze of her mother's hand brought her back to reality as she gave her a small smile in return of her reassuring look.

"Right, you're going to look out for your sister, right?" Remus asked his son.

"Yes, Dad." Teddy sighed, his hair turning canary yellow as his mother held back a giggle.

"No matter what house she's in." Dora added.

"Promise." Teddy grinned "You'll be fine, won't you Andy Pandy?"

"Do not call me that!" Andy snapped, her hair flashing yellow for a minute before with a small sigh she screwed up her features, forcing her hair back to black.

"Keep that temper under control too, Andromeda." Nymphadora sighed before she leant down and embraced the girl tightly, kissing her head, laughing as Remus came up behind them and kissed the girl's cheek.

"Yes mother." The girl sighed "Can we go now."

"Oh for merlin's sake." Dora sighed mockingly as she let go of her daughter, taking her husband's hand as she faked tears "Our children don't need us anymore, Remus."

"It's tragic." Remus chuckled as he wrapped an arm around the woman's waist, looking to the children "Go, before your mother decides she can't survive without you two and drags you back home."

"Bye!" Teddy grinned "Love you both!"

"Bye." Andromeda laughed as she chased after her brother, each of them dragging their cases behind them.

Dora sighed, shaking her head slightly as they waited for the train to leave "How do you think Teddy will handle it when Andromeda is in Slytherin?"

"You don't know she'll be in Slytherin." Remus sighed, kissing his wife's head.

"Oh I do." Dora shook her head "She's Black through and through, besides both her—"

"She was raised by a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, may I also add a Slytherin that probably shouldn't have been in that house but decided to get into an argument with an ancient magical hat." Remus sighed.

"What can I say? I know what I want and I'm determined to get it." Dora smirked.

"Hard working," Remus nodded "I do believe that's a Hufflepuff trait."

Dora laughed "How about we go home and see what my old uniform says about that? I'm sure it still fits."

"Well, I do believe you've awoken my inner marauder." Remus smirked, disapparating with his giggling wife.

Andromeda took a deep breath as she walked into The Great Hall with her fellow first years. She had so many emotions running through her it was too much for the eleven-year-old to take in; excitement to be starting at the school, fear for how she would be received in whatever house she got into mixed with slight relief for being away from Teddy. She did love her brother but by merlin was he a giant moron at times, she couldn't deal with another round of animal impressions with him and his Hufflepuff friends on the oh so long journey up to Scotland.

Despite herself she couldn't help but let out a small silent laugh at her brother—now with hair representing all of the house colours as he waved at her with a grin. She looked down, screwing her eyes shut as she morphed away her blush (she had to figure out how her mum managed to morph without doing that, sure she was told it was something to do with getting better as she got older but she was determined to figure it out sooner than that—her mum was old). She listened dutifully as the Headmistress then the sorting hat in turn addressed the hall and as the first names were called she could feel her palms growing sweaty. It felt like a small eternity as they got to H's, surely she would be soon. Come on, pull yourself together, this is no big deal. Just deciding where you belong for the next seven years of your life. Andromeda nodded to herself.

"Lupin, Andromeda." Professor McGonagall called out.

Andromeda could have sworn the gulp of fear was audible as she slowly made her way to the sorting hat. She could hear the whispers, though they felt so distant in comparison to how close she truly knew they were. The girl was sure she was about to fall flat on her face as she took step after careful step up to the stool. She felt like she was going to die with the anticipation as the hat was slowly lowered to her head.

Well well well . . . the old voice murmured in her ear Now, this is an easy one.

Andromeda took a deep breath; she didn't want to fight with the hat. Merely letting it put her where she was 'meant to be'.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat boomed.

Andromeda's eyes snapped open, relinquishing the deathly grip she had on the hat stool. She looked to the Slytherin table, a few cheering but not as many as she had heard for the others. She held her head high as she jumped off the stool, slowly walking over to her new house, every last lesson from her Aunt Cissa in etiquette coming back to her as she took her seat. She was sure that in that moment she would rather the world swallow her up as some of her housemates shuffled away from her. She looked across the room, smiling slightly as she saw her brother, now adorning green and silver hair as he threw her a grin and a wink.

Andromeda Lupin sat in her dormitory. No-one had talked to her in the great hall, no-one had talked to her on her way up to the Slytherin dormitory, no-one had invited her to stay in the common room as the first years talked in their excited whispers. The girl held her head high despite it all, she wouldn't let them get to her. With a forced slight smile on her lips she jumped off her bed and went to her trunk to find her night dress. Though as she sifted through the many clothes in the trunk she frowned as her hand hit something wrapped in her favourite night dress. She hesitated for a slight moment before she lifted the dress, frowned in confusion as to why there was a napping image of her mother in the silver frame.

"Mum you are so weird . . ." Andromeda sighed.

The image jumped, grinning as she sat up, taking the frame with her "I am not weird, how rude."

"What . . ." Andromeda frowned.

"It's a two-way mirror." Dora laughed "So, how is it? What house are you in?"

"I—It's great." Andromeda forced a smile before she looked back to the mirror "I'm in Slytherin."

"I knew it." Dora smiled, though frowned slightly when she saw the look in her daughter's eyes "What's wrong with being a Slytherin? I was a Slytherin . . ."

"Yeah well—" Andromeda chewed her lip "You were."

"And that's why it's a bad thing. Right?" Dora sighed "You know just because you're in Slytherin doesn't mean you're bad. It means you're ambitious, cunning, resourceful."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Andromeda sighed.

"You know, Narcissa was a Slytherin too, to the best of my knowledge I cannot remember her doing—" Dora shook her head with a sigh "She wasn't bad. And—and Mum and Narcissa had another sister you know . . ."

"Really?" Andromeda asked, her brows furrowing in confusion "You never told me that . . ."

"Well she was disowned . . ." Dora thought for a moment before she smiled wistfully at her daughter "But she was in Slytherin, she was great. She was loving, kind, she was true to what she believed in and married the man she loved no matter what it meant. She was ambitious, ambitious enough to live the life she wanted to live no matter what it meant. Okay?"

Andromeda nodded with a small frown, sure she could see moisture in her mother's eyes.

"I'm going to get some sleep, beautiful." Dora sighed "You can talk to me whenever you want, darling. Okay?"

"Okay." Andromeda smiled.

"Love you." Dora smiled, waiting for her daughter's reply before she let the girl go.

Andromeda stared at the mirror for a few more moments before she forced herself to get changed. She curled up into her bed, pulling the sheets over her as she closed her eyes. Maybe being in Slytherin wouldn't be such a bad thing for her.