THE BLACK SHEEP OF THE FAMILY

Chapter 4

Storm Clouds

Sanity was a hard thing to maintain as the days dragged on, in both Hogwarts and the rest of the world existing beyond its gray stone walls and forest full of mysteries.

Tensions jumped to a new high each day with the delivery of the Daily Prophet, its contents divulged and discussed to no end among students regardless of their location; mealtime, common rooms, dormitories, hallways, bathrooms, Quidditch matches, and even classrooms, to the teachers' great aggravation. Despite severe reprimands and heavily distributed detentions, anything that the Daily Prophet reported on Voldemort and his followers spread like wildfire among the frenzied residents of the once-tranquil school.

Although no more killings had taken place after the Beechbirch Lake incident, the hate-driven Pureblood and his followers were now leaving foreboding messages all over Britain, regardless of Muggle or wizard habitation. The Magical Law Enforcement Squad were facing much scrutiny for not being able to apprehend at least one suspect, while Obliviators were at their wits' end at trying to reach all Muggles that had come across enchanted letters of deep crimson slashed deep into their front doors and lawns. Muggles could at least be made to forget about the desecration of their property, but no one in the wizarding world could ignore troubling notices of 'Our numbers grow steadily each day, as will the death tolls of the Mudbloods, half-bloods, traitors, and the non-magical filth. Their bones will form the pathway to a new era.'

Suspicious glances exchanged between students seemed fierce enough to burn holes in their path, the hiss of vicious whispers sharp enough to elusively blow out eardrums. Intense fights had broken out over misunderstood words, great gaps suddenly separating years of friendship and turning them into nothing but distant memories. Paranoia and confusion was eating away at us all, and the tension began to mount into impossible levels.

Ironically, it was the Pureblood students that were suffering most greatly through Voldemort's turbulent campaign. Although no Pureblood had dared to speak up in favour of the extremist, a sense of retaliation began to swell within the hearts of some Muggle-borns and mixed-bloods towards those with pure ancestry. The rather prejudiced Purebloods in Slytherin were grouped together with the mixed-lineage supporting Purebloods from the rest of the houses, all of them ridiculed and openly accused of being advocates of Voldemort's movement. This in turn spurned on the Purebloods to wrathfully go on the defensive, lashing out at anyone who so much as peeked in their direction.

I certainly was not exempt from getting caught in this gigantic web of doubt and allegations. My name and lineage had been whispered plenty of times by staring students as they passed by, the words 'sister of that awful seventh year' and gasps of shock often included in their jumble of hushed dialogue. The biting buzz of gossip and contempt began anew as I entered the Charms classroom and sat down in front of a group of assembled Hufflepuffs.

"It's Andromeda Black. You know what that means," a girl piped up, attempting to keep her voice down but failing miserably.

"You think she's one of them?" a boy hissed. I concentrated on looking over my homework, checking for errors.

"Of course she is. Have you seen the rest of her family?" another girl joined in spitefully. "There's that wench Bellatrix that elbowed me on the stairs last year, nearly making me fall. Then there's that prat Regulus…and the snot-nosed blonde. I forget her name-"

"Who cares," the first girl snapped, "it's not like they've done spectacular things for people to remember their names by."

I closed my eyes, wanting to squash little Professor Flitwick under my heels for being late.

"Marrying their cousins, that's probably about it," a different boy chuckled, drawing out muffled sniggers from the rest of the pack.

"Speaking of which…the Fat Friar told me that he saw Sirius Black coming out of the Ravenclaw common room a couple weeks ago. At dawn."

I gripped my book tightly, the urge to blast all of Hufflepuff into oblivion becoming rather difficult to hold back.

"And there was Andromeda Black the next morning, looking very tired and disheveled," the girl said deviously, stirring up scandalized giggles and loud exclaims of disgust among her housemates. Her suggestive tone was blatant and unapologetic, a direct slap to my face.

I bit into my bottom lip hard as I began to tremble in humiliation and fury, the corners of my book leaving deep, red grooves in my hands as I clutched them harder. I bent my head low to disguise my pooling tears, desperately trying to swallow away the lump in my throat.

"Good morning, dear Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs," the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick burst out, causing to me slouch even further. "I apologize for my delay; there was something I needed to take care of in my office. Now, let us begin our lesson for today, shall we?"

I pointed my wand at my face, performing a small Drought Charm to dry up my tears. I concentrated relentlessly on the sound of Flitwick's voice, wishing for it to push away the lingering memory of the Hufflepuffs' derisive voices.

I was a nervous wreck by the end of class, nearly bursting into tears again at the sight of the Hufflepuffs that tore away at my dignity so shamelessly after three years of friendly waves and smiles. I was suddenly some kind of incest-loving slut to them; nothing but another Pureblood for them to blame for the Pureblood radicals terrorizing the country. My eyes began to sting with unshed tears and even at the height of my misery, I realized that nothing Bellatrix ever said to me had hurt me this much.

I stared down the hallway at the Hufflepuffs in the distance, fists clenched tightly by my sides.

"Hey, Andromeda," Ted Tonks, out of all people called out timidly from behind me, setting his hand on my shoulder. "I-"

"Don't you dare touch me!" I snapped, pushing away his hand. He shrank back in surprise as I whirled around, tears finally streaming out from the corners of my narrowed eyes.

"What's wrong-"

"You were there, you very damn well know what went wrong!" I screamed at him, his calm deceit finally driving me over the edge. "Do you honestly think being pureblooded makes me that thick? I saw you sitting diagonally from them, and I know you heard everything, you dirty, lying trash!"

"Andromeda, I'm-" he stammered, but I had no patience for any of his excuses.

"You're what? Sorry that you had the misfortune of actually bumping into an inbred tramp the other day?" I retorted ferociously, my voice thickening from the returning lump in my throat. It felt unbelievably good to unleash my rage; to actually retaliate for all of the nasty whispers and stares I had to endure to this time.

"I don't, and I never would support that Voldemort and his deluded schemes, do you know that?" I continued, panting heavily and wiping my wet face with the back of my hand. "But no, you and the rest of the crazy bastards in this school have made up some sort of sick witch hunt based on blind paranoia, completely shitting yourselves at the slightest mention of 'Pureblood'."

I paused to stare into his eyes, which slightly faltered under my steely gaze. He opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted once more.

"How does it feel, Tonks?" I inquired softly. "How does it feel to be generalized and ridiculed, to never even have an opening to explain yourself?"

I turned my back to him, hugging my book bag to my chest. "You Hufflepuffs aren't 'just and loyal'. You're all just as bad as those you so openly condemn."

With that, I stomped down the hallway, the taste of unadulterated hatred still bitter in my mouth.

Author's note: Thank you valis2, for reviewing!