A/N: This is the Chudley Cannons Chaser 1 checking in for Season 9 Round 3 of QLFC.
CHASER 1: The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde: Write about someone whose beauty is only skin-deep.
Optional Prompts: 6. (setting) nighttime; 13. (word) whisper; and 15. (dialogue) "You're better than this."
Word count (before A/N): 2,896 words
Special thanks to Hannah and Ashleigh for beta-ing!
Andromeda hated these stupid socialite parties more than she hated sitting in Binns's class each week—and that was saying something. The parties were tolerable. Once. Until Bellatrix had decided to follow in their parents footsteps after graduation and give in to the hateful rhetoric and beliefs they spewed.
Now Bella was the life of the party.
It made Andromeda sick.
She sipped on her smuggled green drink, a mix of artificial lime flavoring and fire. Whatever the alcohol actually was, she couldn't say, just that it burned her throat and made her squint her eyes with each sip.
At least she was starting to feel its effects. Warm and bubbly. Somehow, it blocked out the noise of the partygoers crammed into Grimmauld Place, affluent Ministry workers and Black family proteges decking the halls in gold-and-glitter robes.
"There you are!"
Andromeda turned from her perch on the balcony, her body blocking her martini glass balancing dangerously on the railing's edge. Her eyes landed on Narcissa poking her blonde head through the second story window that led to her hideaway.
"I was wondering where you went off to," she said. "Mother is one drink away from curling up on the lounge settee, and I really don't want to be alone with her when she does."
"So you're on Druella Duty tonight." Andromeda smirked. "I don't envy you."
"Not anymore." Narcissa pushed the window up further and hoisted her skirts. Climbing through the pane, she continued, "And I wish you wouldn't call her that. She's still your mother, even when you're upset with her."
Andromeda turned around, resting her forearms against the railing, bending slightly to accommodate its height. She'd been enjoying her solitude on the balcony, staring up at the endless night sky, her mind wandering aimlessly, spinning like the galaxy she was named for. The moon hung low in the midnight black, crouching close to the treetops to whisper all its best secrets.
When she was little, Andromeda wanted to climb to the top of the trees and listen in. She thought maybe the moon, as it circled the earth like a silent observer, had seen that she did not belong. Maybe the moon knew all along she was merely caught up in a world not made for her, and in fact, there was another one out there where she was meant to be.
But that was just a dream. Now she just wanted the moon to swallow her whole.
"I'm always upset with Mother," she said, raising the glass back to her lips. She sipped slowly, hating the way the liquid scorched her tongue. She handed it over to her sister to finish.
"I know it's hard," Narcissa took the glass, "but Mother means well."
She drained the drink, the delicate curve of the glass fitted neatly between her perfectly red-rose lips. Andromeda bit back her smile as those same red-rose lips started to sputter at the aftertaste. "Good Gaia, Dromeda! How can you drink that?"
Narcissa set the glass back on the railing, shaking her head. Andromeda couldn't help herself, finally letting her laughter out. She watched on fondly as Narcissa delicately wiped the corners of her mouth, her lipstick somehow becoming even more perfect in the process.
Cissy was beautiful, inside and out. Andromeda loved every perfect golden hair that sprouted from her head. Even as small children, she'd admired her sister's silky locks. There was something angelic, too, about the way her sister glowed underneath the moonlight. The sharp curve of her chin, the plumpness of her cheek. She was only fifteen, but Andromeda knew Narcissa would be one to contend with.
A real beauty with an abundance of wit and a heart made of kindness and stars.
"What's Bella doing?" She hadn't wanted to talk about their oldest sister, but Andromeda was curious.
Narcissa sighed. "She's doing what she does best. Inserting herself into conversations with powerful people, charming them with her unwavering drive." She paused, her crystal blue eyes flitting upward to the night sky. Her dainty mouth fell open ever so slightly, and for the second time, Andromeda could see her sister's beauty in earnest. Like a porcelain doll too precious to take out of the box.
Narcissa turned back to her. "She won't shut up about Rodolphus, though. Almost gagged myself with a shrimp skewer to get out of that last conversation. I really don't know what she sees in him."
"She sees his blood status," Andromeda said drily.
"But couldn't she find a pureblood she actually loved? Is that really so impossible?"
Andromeda watched her sister's fingers tighten around the railing, the knuckles pressing white against her skin. What a horrid pressure their parents had put on them, Andromeda thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "It's not impossible. But that's not what Bella wants."
A true statement through and through. Andromeda could still see Rodolphus Lestrange lounging about the Slytherin Common Room, his dark hair and cheshire grin. He wasn't handsome; no rugged good looks or heroic charm, just suitable blood and a bachelor status.
She wasn't even sure he had a personality.
When Bellatrix had come home at the end of her seventh year with a shiny ring on her finger and that Lestrange boy on her arm, Andromeda was mortified. Surely Druella would balk at the thought of her seventeen-year-old daughter marrying so young. Especially to someone they'd never even heard about before that moment.
She'd thought wrong.
"You do know," Andromeda said, turning away from the open sky and facing Narcissa fully, "it doesn't have to be a pureblood. Love really should be the only thing that matters."
Briefly her mind flitted to late nights staring up at the night sky with Ted, their hands innocently intertwined as they talked about everything and nothing. Sweet conversations that left her feeling light inside. But she swallowed those feelings quickly, keeping her face stoic for her sister.
She just wasn't ready to talk about him yet. She liked having Ted to herself.
In response, however, Narcissa gave her a half smile, and that placated Andromeda for the time being. They didn't really talk about it much, but Andromeda knew she and Narcissa weren't like the others in their family. They didn't put faith into that Sacred Twenty-Eight nonsense like the lot of them.
"I think we should go back in." Narcissa pulled at the sleeves of her dress robes. "I'm getting cold, and I really don't want Father to yell if he catches us out here."
She was right, Andromeda knew. She still hated it. "Fine," she said. "But I am not babysitting Mother just because she had too much to drink."
The party wasn't completely awful. Stuffy, perhaps, and still filled to the brim with snobbish Ministry officials, but the food was quite lovely and the house was warmer inside.
Andromeda popped another stuffed mushroom cap into her mouth, letting the savory chorizo filling warm her. She'd been back in the throes of party-making for an hour and had somehow managed to lose Narcissa in the process. Again. More likely than not, her little sister was attending to their mother, which was the last place Andromeda planned to be. Instead, she had snuck two more nasty green martinis and decided she'd spent enough time inside.
As she turned to make her escape back to the balcony, she came in full contact with another person.
"Oh, sorry!" She raised her hands to steady them as they both came to a halt. Her eyes grew wide. "Rodolphus!"
Great. Andromeda put on her best smile.
"Andy." Rodolphus nodded. Andromeda cringed. "My apologies."
"No, no," she said. "I wasn't looking."
They stood awkwardly for a few moments, the silence between them deafening even over the din of partygoers bustling about. Andromeda briefly wondered what family dinners would be like once her sister was married. Would they sit around in total silence, the sound of forks scraping against chinaware the only reprieve?
She'd rather chew on wet parchment.
"So…" she glanced around him. "Where's Bellatrix off to?"
"I'm not sure."
Again he stood silently, staring at her with his empty eyes.
Empty head, more like, she thought. "Well," she smiled again, "I'm sure you'll find her soon."
As if it couldn't get any more stifling, the dolt decided to just stand and stare at her. Merlin, he really was an idiot. Andromeda smiled again, hoping he'd either leave or maybe ask her a question or just… something.
But nothing.
What Bellatrix planned to do in their happy home, Andromeda didn't want to know. Though this close, she could see some attractive qualities: nice bone structure, fair skin. He was tall, too, and Quidditch probably left him with some muscles tucked away beneath his burgundy robes.
Of course, looks could be deceiving. Andromeda knew that. And what was on the outside shouldn't be the only thing counted when it came to a lifelong partner.
"I'm off!" she finally said. Relief seemed to pass over Rodolphus's eyes as she dodged around her future brother-in-law. Perhaps he felt as awkward as she did. Maybe she could find Narcissa again, and they could discuss it more. Be allies in this strange chapter in their lives.
At least she wouldn't be alone the next time she'd run into Bella's dearly beloved.
Climbing the stairs of Grimmauld Place, Andromeda looked out over the crowd lining the halls. Aunt Walburga had really outdone herself, sparing no expense or detail. Uncle Orion's big promotion at the Ministry would be remembered by everyone after this extravaganza, and no doubt the gossip gleaned from tonight would keep him rising through the ranks at a steady pace.
A good thing for him, certainly. Not so great for the rest of the wizarding world, Andromeda knew.
There was something brewing, something lurking in the shadows. She could feel its icy stare in every darkened corner of every room.
Her classmates could sense it, too. All that talk of a Dark Lord rising into power and taking the purebloods with him. Bellatrix had seemed to delight in the idea, though Andromeda always thought it was an act to fit in with her peers. Now though, with this whole Rodolphus thing, Andromeda wasn't sure.
Blood status was a ridiculous notion. Yet her family clung to it like a vice.
What did that kind of thinking gain anyway, she thought. The world needed Muggleborns and half-bloods. Otherwise, they'd lose all semblance of magic. Relying on only twenty-eight families seemed like a risky experiment in inbreeding. Not to mention, some of the greatest wizards of all time had been of mixed blood.
Andromeda couldn't understand any of it. And honestly, she never wanted to.
She mounted the last step, the murmur of voices from downstairs turning to static as she approached her balcony once again. She slowed only to check if the coast was clear.
"Cissy, wait." Andromeda stopped short of the open window. The harried whispering from outside continued. "Are you absolutely sure that's what she meant?"
Andromeda's heart sank. It was Bella.
"Yes. It was right here. I couldn't believe it." And Narcissa.
Both her sisters. Andromeda took a tentative step forward.
"She said love should be the only thing that matters," Narcissa continued. A lump grew in Andromeda's throat as she heard her own words repeated with such contempt and disgust. "Wouldn't even dream of a pureblood, she said."
Well, that wasn't true. Andromeda almost rounded the window to say so, but Bellatrix's shrill voice stopped her cold. "This is even more alarming, especially with what you've told me about that filthy little Mudblood."
Andromeda recoiled.
"I still can't believe I saw her with him. I thought I'd die." Cissy now. Cissy, who Andromeda knew couldn't possibly mean those words. They'd never talked about it, but… they were on the same page, weren't they?
She stepped closer still.
"What's his name, anyways?" Bella asked.
"Edward Tonks, I think. Goes by Ted."
Andromeda's hand cupped her mouth. Inside, her heart beat wildly against her chest. For the first time that night, she felt sobered up. She'd thought she'd hidden Ted well enough. It wasn't like she was ashamed; she just wasn't ready to face her family, knowing that they'd disapprove of him solely based on his blood status.
She thought hiding him was protecting him.
But maybe she hadn't been all that careful. Narcissa seemed to know…
Cissy. Andromeda felt hot tears pushing against her eyes. Had she been wrong about her baby sister?
"You did the right thing, coming to me," Bella said. "I can't believe she'd do something this stupid."
"I can," Narcissa said. She sounded sad, though that did little to cushion her next words. "Dromeda thinks she's so much better than us. She probably thinks it's all a fun game, and we both know she won't listen to us if we confront her. I'm glad our little game worked, though. It's shown who she really is."
Andromeda couldn't stand it any longer.
"What game?" she practically shouted, stepping into the window frame. Both sisters jumped at the sound of her voice. Narcissa stood wide-eyed, her blue eyes darting between Andromeda and Bella. The latter, however, only smirked.
"Was wondering when you'd join in the fun," she teased. Andromeda's blood boiled. Every hair on her body seemed to bristle just looking at her older sister.
"So much fun," Andromeda spat back. "Idle prattle from an empty-headed cow. So sorry I missed the beginning of this little gathering."
Bellatrix scowled.
"Now, Dromeda—"
She rounded on Narcissa before she could finish her thought. "And you!" Rage burned behind her eyes. All these years, Andromeda thought she and Cissy were cut from the same cloth. That that far off place hidden away behind the moon's all-seeing eyes was just for them. But she was wrong, wasn't she?
"What game, Cissy?" Andromeda demanded.
She watched her sister's sharp features take her in. Calculating her next words. Narcissa never meant for Andromeda to hear her actual thoughts, that much was clear, and now Andromeda could see the wheels turning behind her blue eyes as she tried to lighten the blow.
"It wasn't a game, Dromeda. That really didn't come out right," Narcissa said, her voice suddenly dripping with the innocence Andromeda so often associated with her sister. Had she not been listening in before, Andromeda would have never realized the subtle way her sister's voice changed when addressing her. So much more like a child's.
"Okay then." She'd bite. See what Cissy had to say. Something was already breaking inside of Andromeda, and she truly doubted that any explanation could fix it. "What did you mean."
It was not a question.
Narcissa's eyes flitted to Bellatrix, her angelic face cracking under Andromeda's stare. Bellatrix, however, was still smirking, her purple-stained lips revealing her crooked smile underneath.
"I—" Narcissa started. But she couldn't come up with anything.
"We decided that we wanted to see where your loyalties truly stand," Bellatrix interjected. "We all know how you feel about my darling Rudy," she laughed at the unfortunate nickname, "and I thought, who better to confront you about your own failings than our little sister."
Bellatrix warped her hand around Narcissa's arm. She squeezed it, and suddenly the Narcissa that Andromeda knew faded. Left behind was something much worse, like she'd suddenly realized her sister had been an elfish changeling all this time.
It was subtle, the way she could see the ugliness in Narcissa's face, the sharp chin and plump cheeks, the rose-red lips like stained blood. She was still beautiful alright.
Beautifully rotten.
She held up her chin, her gaze piercing. "Now we know; you're a blood traitor. Without remorse, it appears."
Andromeda scowled. "I'm not a blood traitor," she spat, "because I don't believe in any of that hogwash to begin with. And I thought you didn't either!"
"Mudbloods have their place," Narcissa said coldly. "Just wait till Mother hears about yours."
It was like she'd been struck by the Cruciatus, right to the heart. The last bond she'd felt toward Narcissa broke, and suddenly Andromeda didn't much care for her sisters' identical scowls starting at her from the balcony. Behind them, the moon fizzled out behind the trees, covering them in a blackness that matched their hearts.
Several thoughts raced through her mind. She'd have to write Ted, let him know Monday at school would probably be hell from the Slytherin students. She'd also need to get home before Narcissa told her mother—she wasn't going to be humiliated in a house filled with people she barely tolerated on a good day. She also needed to get away.
Andromeda turned from the window, letting her sisters fade behind her. She tore through the house, her feet on autopilot as she dodged inquisitive eyes on her way to the kitchen.
Angrily, she wiped away her tears. "You're better than this." She grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. She had one more year of school to go. Nine months, really, since the term already started. Just nine months, and then she could leave behind all the hate and vile her family believed in.
"You're better than all of this," she repeated. Then she stepped into the emerald green flames, a new fire growing inside her, and disappeared.