My characters are mine. J. K. Rowling's characters are hers.
It was lunchtime and Andromeda was apprehensive. Would Helena dare to go and tell Harry what Andromeda had told her? She didn't know if she wanted her to or not. Another thing – she was contemplating whether to take Harry's advice and pay Dumbledore a visit. It might be useful – or it might not. She decided to try.
Dumbledore's office was, unlike other unfamiliar rooms in the castle, very easy to locate. She wondered why. Luckily, Professor McGonagall was leaving at that moment and they almost collided. McGonagall looked worried and nervy, but Andromeda, all the same, said, 'Could I see Professor Dumbledore?'
For a moment, McGonagall didn't reply, but then she turned sharply and led Andromeda to a stone gargoyle set into the wall. 'Cockroach cluster,' she said. Nothing happened. 'Oh… of course… that was last year…' She thought for a moment, then tried again. 'Cauldron cakes.' The gargoyle leapt to the side, and McGonagall directed Andromeda. Then she left abruptly, and Andromeda ascended on the moving spiral staircase, unknown to her but familiar to Harry.
Before long she arrived before a shiny wooden door, polished to the point of reflection, and rapped on the brass door-knocker set into it. Waiting for a moment, she thought that the headmaster must be elsewhere, but then it swung open and she found herself looking into the face of a commanding, formidable man.
Unlike Harry, Andromeda had barely spoken to Dumbledore during her time at Hogwarts. She was both intimidated and awed by him. She could see why Voldemort had been afraid of him – he was the complete opposite of everything the Dark Lord was, but for the incredible power that they shared.
'Andromeda Green?' he said, and in a moment, his friendly manner brushed away her fear. 'What can I do for you?'
'Er – there's something that's been bothering me, and someone told me to talk to you about it. That is, if you're not too busy, it's not all that important…'
'I have no pressing engagements at this specific moment,' he said. 'Come in, Miss Green.'
She entered the office, which was large and spectacularly decorated with all manner of interesting equipment lining the walls and shelves. But she was not here to look around. When Professor Dumbledore sat behind his desk, she sat too, in a broad leather armchair before the table.
'I'm in Slytherin,' she said, and he nodded. 'But I'm really not sure I should be. I mean, it seems like all the worst people in the school come from there. You-Know-Who came from there. My father was in Gryffindor, and no one says it, but they're all disappointed in me. I can't help feeling that I'll turn out bad as well, as though it's inevitable. There are so many people I don't get along with, and there's a lot of rivalry with the other houses too – everyone in Slytherin has to hate the Gryffindors, it's like a law. But… I don't. I've never felt that I belonged there.'
Professor Dumbledore was quiet and pensive for a few moments. Then he looked at Andromeda shrewdly, and she couldn't fathom what he was thinking. His brow furrowed.
'Andromeda Green, the Sorting Hat has never made a mistake yet, and I don't believe that your placement in Slytherin was one either. Of course you have felt that you do not belong – the most surprising people have doubts about these matters. But you do belong in Slytherin. You are strong-willed, clear-minded, perceptive and independent – all qualities which outline most Slytherins. And, of course, they are not all bad.
'Many bad wizards have come from Slytherin, but a fair share were from other houses as well. Grindelwald himself was a Ravenclaw. A quarter of the school is in Slytherin, and I sincerely hope that they are not all nasty and unpleasant.' He smiled. 'I am sure that you would make a very formidable Dark witch. But as long as you use your qualities wisely, Andromeda, and do not choose the wrong path to follow – and I have great faith in you – you can also be a great opponent of the Dark forces.
'As for the matter of the rivalry, particularly between Gryffindor and Slytherin – this is something that has always been, and as long as I have been part of this school, has upset me. People like you can change it, however – people who understand that it should not be this way. Prejudice has caused immense disasters in the past, Andromeda, and can only be combated by those who truly see through it. Do not succumb.'
As she left the office, Andromeda Green had a lot to think about.
After Transfiguration on Tuesday afternoon, Harry was returning to the Gryffindor common room when he was grabbed from behind. On the point of shouting, he turned around and saw a tall, stocky, formidable-looking redhead. It was Helena Pratt, one of Andromeda's friends.
'Harry Potter.' It was a statement, not a question, so Harry kept quiet. He felt a bit silly. Helena was about a foot taller than him. 'My friend Andromeda is a bit upset about you.'
'Is she?' Harry was bewildered. Surely he couldn't have annoyed Andromeda that much?
'Yes. But it's not how you think. You see, Harry, she told me about something you told her last Sunday.'
So it was about that. 'Did she?' he said, trying to sound nonchalant.
'Potter, you silly git. She's mad about you!'
Harry was gobsmacked. 'What?'
'Andromeda feels exactly the same as you. Now I can't see why – you're a bit short for my liking –' she grinned, and he found himself liking this commanding girl – 'but she's strange and won't talk to you, so I suggest you find her. And do it soon please. She's driving us all mad, mooching around all the time. OK?'
'OK,' mumbled Harry. He hardly noticed Helena leave, and it was a full fifteen minutes before he realised that the last milling students had gone and headed back to the common room.
Helena returned to the Slytherin common room long after everyone else, and Andromeda's heart sank. She had a horrible feeling she knew where her friend had been. So she asked her.
Helena smiled slyly. 'Unfinished business.'
Andromeda felt a rush of mixed gratitude and fury. 'Helena, if you've been where I think you've been, then you're either the best friend I've ever had or I absolutely hate you and I'm never speaking to you again!' she finished.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' said Helena in mock shock. 'I have been having a secret rendezvous with my old friend Professor Flitwick, actually.'
Helena was taken aback a moment later by Andromeda flinging herself across the room and attaching herself to her middle.
Andromeda knew where Harry would look for her, so she hurried to the library. She settled down in front of her usual stack of shelves. Sure enough, less than two minutes later Harry emerged from between a couple of shelving units and grinned. 'I thought you'd be here.'
'I'm so sorry, Harry, I don't know what I put you through because I felt bad enough myself and I knew you liked me back and I'm so sorry I've started caring what everyone thinks because I never used to and I have to stop now because if it's going to stop me from being with you…'
She stopped talking abruptly as Harry leaned over and kissed her.
At nine o'clock in the evening, one Tuesday in late November, the Gryffindor common room was thrown into turmoil by the appearance of Harry Potter with a Slytherin in tow. 'What's she doing here?' Fred Weasley demanded, as though Draco Malfoy himself had come into the room.
'I don't want this to happen any more,' said Harry. 'This is Andromeda Green. Yes, she's a Slytherin, but she's also a wonderful person and my girlfriend. In fact, I love her. So remember that there are some nice Slytherins – more than one, as I've found out today – as well as people from this house you don't get on with. Please get to know her before you decide you hate her, or you're nothing better than Draco Malfoy yourself.'
Perhaps for the first time in a crowded Gryffindor common room, there was silence. For a few moments, nobody knew quite what to say. Then, without warning, there was the sound of a great many chairs being pushed back as everyone rushed over to meet Andromeda. After all, there is some good in every house, and this one was no exception. Also, of course, nobody wanted to be compared to Draco Malfoy.
I know that sounded quite conclusive, but it will continue for a long time yet – as long as I know the roman numerals to accommodate more chapters, in fact.