Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter. This means I can't give it to you, so there's no use in asking. It also means that this mildly entertaining little story is not meant to infringe on any copyrights, etc, etc. Thank you.
"Andie?"
"Yes, Sirius?"
"Is it true you're dating a Mudblood?"
The Head Girl wheeled, catching Sirius by surprise. "Ted Tonks is not a Mudblood, Sirius." She spat the word as if to rid her mouth of its taste.
"Oh, he isn't? I was a little —"
"Sirius. Sit down."
He looked startled. "Why?"
"We need to talk."
With a shrug, he sat. "About what?"
"You were sorted into Gryffindor, Sirius."
"I thought you at least wouldn't be mad at me."
"If you really are going to be a Gryffindor, you need to realize that there's no such thing as a Mudblood. Some witches and wizards have Muggle parents. This doesn't make them any less than the rest of us. Ted Tonks is a wonderful person. The muggle-born girl in my dorm is, too. They're just as good as the rest of us. You have to realize that, Sirius, or you won't get anywhere. You have to get past the prejudices that you've been taught by our family. You have to. It won't work out otherwise. Understand?"
"But —"
"Understand?"
He swallowed. "I think so."
"I hope so," she replied. "You do realize how the family's going to react, right? They were bad enough when I was sorted into Ravenclaw, and that's nowhere near as bad in their eyes as Gryffindor. I mean, Slytherin and Gryffindor are mortal enemies. Bella will be livid — your mother, too. And the rest won't be much better. You're on your own now — I mean, you've got me, of course, but I'm going to be gone in a year. I'm not coming back home. If Gryffindor doesn't become your new home, you won't have one — not really. You have to make this work, Sirius. Your life will be hell if you don't."
Sirius gulped. "I'll — I'll do my best."
Andie nodded. "I know you will. Just remember, whatever you do — keep an open mind. That's the most important thing of all."
"How are you doing, Sirius?"
"Andie! I haven't seen you in two years!"
"I've missed you."
"It's so great to see you! How are you and Ted doing?"
Andie blushed. "Actually — I wanted to ask you — how'd you like to be part of the wedding?"
Sirius's eyes grew large, and Andie smiled at the familiar look. "You're getting married?"
"That's the general idea," she replied, laughing. "You can get the details later. How are things with you? Are you still friends with that group of boys you met in your first year?"
"Yep! Closer than ever. I've been staying with James over the holidays, actually. Haven't been home since first year!"
An almost wistful look crossed Andie's face. "Sirius — don't you ever wish that it could have been all right with them? That they could have accepted us? That we could have stayed family?"
Sirius looked down, scuffing his shoe in the dirt. "I guess — sometimes — a little. But the guys are more family to me than Bellatrix and Narcissa and Regulus ever were. We're practically brothers — and they're better brothers than Regulus was. That's for certain."
"So you don't even consider them family anymore?"
"Do they consider me family?"
"I think — yes, in a way. I think they still want you to be a Black again."
Sirius scowled. "But I don't want to be a Black. My name has two parts. I like the first part better. I want to be Sirius."
"You don't even want to reconcile with them?" She was almost pleading.
"I'm not going to bend, Andie. If I'm going to reconcile with them, they're the ones who have to come around to my point of view."
Andie sighed. "And of course, you're both taking that approach, and therefore will get nowhere."
"So be it, then. I don't need them, Andie! I have the guys. They're my real family. You're the one who told me to keep an open mind and make my house into my family!"
"Yes," she whispered. "I suppose I am."
"You ran away from home, Sirius."
"Really? I never would have noticed. Oh, look, she just changed her nose!"
"Why?"
"Because she's a metamorphmagus. You're her mother, for crying out loud. You should know that! Also, why on earth did you name her Nymphadora?"
Andie ignored the last comment. "No, why did you run away from home?"
"Because I hated it there."
"I know — but Sirius, you know that there'll never be hope for you being family with them again."
"I don't care."
"God, Sirius! Why are you so hardened against them? They're your family! Isn't blood thicker than water?"
"That blood's been shed," he replied bitterly. "Did you know Bella's a Death Eater?"
Andie's breath caught in her throat at the joint use of an old nickname and calm accusation. "She is?"
"Hell yeah. Made a right point of it."
"You can't honestly tell me you don't care."
He turned to face her. "You know what, Andie? I don't. All I care about is that there's one more Death Eater out there who's killing innocent people and shouldn't be. I don't care that it's Bella. As far as I'm concerned, she's just another random person following that idiotic Voldemort's orders. She's not my family anymore. She's no one to me. None of them are anyone to me. I've severed all ties with them."
"You really hate them, don't you, Sirius?"
"I hate everyone who's a Death Eater. I hate everyone who supports Death Eaters. I don't hate them any more than the rest."
Andie shook her head. "Then all I can say, Sirius, is that you've got an awful lot of hate."
A/N: Thank you for reading; please review. I'm sorry for taking so long to get this up — to be honest, I was being lazy. Sorry. Thanks to Hanna, ElvenYoukai, and Shinigami for reviewing. In answer to Shinigami's question, in my version of the Blacks' story: Andromeda was born in 1954 and attended Hogwarts from 1965 to 1972. Narcissa was born in 1956 and attended Hogwarts from 1967 to 1972. Bellatrix was born in 1958 and attended Hogwarts from 1969 to 1977. In Chapter 1, I made a mistake on Sirius; he's actually five then, born in 1960 and attending Hogwarts from 1971 to 1978. And Regulus, according to my notes at least, was born in 1961 and attended Hogwarts from 1972 to 1979. I think some of this doesn't fit quite right for this story — it was worked out for a different story — so just pretend where you see fit. :D And please review, anyone who's reading this.