Chapter One: Two months earlier
Andromeda's eye fluttered open as the train pulled into King's Cross. Her travelling companions silently pulled their baggage from the overhead bins and moved out into the crowded corridor, not even bothering to wish Andromeda a happy summer holiday.
Not that she really cared. They were all daughters of wizarding aristocrats and felt it was below them to participate in such mortal trivialities as common courtesy. Most likely they would spend their summer at the Witches Society sipping tea and talking about how wonderful they were as pure-bloods.
And it seemed that every year the guidelines for being pureblood were getting more and more strict. Andromeda supposed that if you had even a hint of non-magic blood in your veins they'd throw you to the doorstep like a pair of old shoes. Then again what did it really matter, who actually wanted to be there?
The only reason anyone went was to keep standards up and brag about how well off they were. Vampires, the whole lot of them. But instead of feeding off blood they fed off the opinions other people made about them. It was kind of twisted when you really thought about it.
When the crowd in the corridor lessened Andromeda pulled down her own luggage and hauled it out onto the buzzing platform. The students and parents were a huge conglomerate of greetings and farewells.
Andromeda pushed her way through looking for a familiar face to latch onto to. As she scanned the crowd for any sign of her family her eyes settled on a Hufflepuff student a year older than her. He was standing with a large group of his friends and they were all hugging and promising to see each other and keep in touch now that they were out of school.
His hair was a light brown colour and stuck up slightly in the back. He wasn't the fittest person in the world but he wasn't bad looking.
As if feeling her gaze he looked up and they stared into each other's eyes. Andromeda felt the blush rise on her cheeks. Quickly she turned away and continued her search for her family in the mess of people.
She wasn't looking where she was going and the point of a hat jabbed her in the eye. Yelping, Andromeda shielded her eye from further attacks and almost ran into a dark figure leaning against the wall, away from the crowd.
"You'd better watch out where you're going, pip-squeak," barked the man gruffly.
"Maybe you should watch where you're going, dumb ass," Andromeda snapped back, before she had time to think it over.
The man began to laugh. He reached up to his hood and pulled it down. Sirius stood there laughing gaily, his arms wide open.
Andromeda ran into them, screeching with happiness. She hadn't seen Sirius for almost a year. Ever since Aunt Ursula disowned him from the family Andromeda had been forbidden from seeing him.
"Mother doesn't know you're here, does she?" Andromeda asked, resting her head happily on her cousin's bony shoulder. The sounds of the crowded station disappeared into the background.
"No, I'm here to kid-nap you," he laughed, pulling away. "James was supposed to come along but he had some other… matters to attend to. But he should be at my flat when we get there. But shhh… it's supposed to be a surprise." His grin was wide and all encompassing. People walking passed couldn't help but sneak a peak at it.
"I'll try and look surprised. How's this?" Andromeda opened her eyes wide and made her mouth into an "O", trying hard not to laugh.
Sirius gave her the thumbs up, grabbing her trolley. "Let's blow this popsicle stand," he suggested. "Before your ride arrives. Wouldn't want Auntie Callisto getting all snuggily."
"That's for sure," Andromeda agreed, looking back for one last glimpse at the Hufflepuff boy. His group had dissipated and there was no sign of him in the thinning crowd. Sighing, Andromeda followed Sirius though the wall and into the muggle infested station.
As they slipped out the entrance a limousine pulled up to the curb and Lady Black got out telling the driver to wait. She was dressed in a plain black trenchcoat and wearing unbearably high heels.
Sirius discreetly secured Andromeda's trunk to the back of his motorcycle with magic and then handed her a helmet. "Throw it on quickly, it has a cloaking spell on it." His threw his on just as Lady Black marched passed them, not even glancing in their direction. The helmet melted over Andromeda's head, so it was like she wasn't even wearing one. When she checked herself out in the mirror her hair had turned blonde and her nose was a lot smaller. Sirius now looked like a male model, with sultry eyes and long perfect hair.
Sirius and Andromeda laughed to themselves as they mounted Sirius motorcycle and tore off down the street. She wished she could be there to see the look on her mother's face when she didn't turn up at the station.
They sped through the bustling London streets Andromeda's long blonde hair streaming freely behind her. Sirius was an absolute maniac on his bike. Slipping through tiny crevices, stopping with only a second to spare, Andromeda had to hold onto his waist for dear life.
And he just laughed loudly, shaking his mane of now sandy brown hair in her face. Some of it got caught in her mouth so she turned her head to the side and watched the people they passed.
Even though they were speeding Andromeda was still able to take in details of everyone. A young woman was comforting a crying child. Two men were leaning against a brick wall taking a cigarette break beneath a "No Smoking" sign while a shopkeeper closed her store for lunch.
Andromeda smiled, happy to be back in London away from the stuffy confines of Hogwarts. She breathed in the fresh smell of smog and knew she was home.
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Sirius screeched to a halt in front of an ancient brick building ascending several stories up into the misty haze. It wasn't Black Manor but it meshed well with Sirius' ragged, care-free attitude.
Andromeda felt around her head until her fingers hooked on the edge of the helmet. She pulled it off and hung it on the handlebar.
"It isn't much but I like to call it home, sometimes," Sirius said, pulling off his own helmet. His hair went back to black and his face became scruffy and unkempt. He pulled out his wand and unattached her trunk off the back. With perfect ease he threw it onto his shoulder, acting like a cheesy strong man from the muggle circuses he had always taken Andromeda to when they were younger.
"Try doing that without magic," Andromeda laughed, following Sirius up the front steps. At the door Sirius punched a few keys on a number pad and the door unlocked.
"The neighbourhood can get rather hostile at night. I made the mistake of taking a walk in the dark when I first moved in. I was ambushed by several guys who demanded that I hand over all of my money. What they didn't realise was that I had been taking martial arts at the local rec centre. It didn't take long for them figure it out either."
The cousins laughed, mounting a flight of wooden stairs that squeaked horribly beneath their weight. "So what are you doing with your new found freedom besides martial arts? Have you acquired a job yet?" Andromeda winced at her own words realising that she sounded like one of the Society Witches. Always using proper language as to not lead anyone to believe that you are uneducated. Rule # 768 of Proper Society Conduct, as taught by Aunt Ursula.
"You sound like my mother," Sirius joked, stating the obvious. "And to answer your question I have not acquired employment as of this exact moment but I am volunteering at the recreational centre. Luckily mother never terminated my allowance so I can afford to live in such fine accommodations. Of course the help here is rather incompetent and there is not another pure-blood for miles."
"Somehow I feel as if I'm being mocked," Andromeda said. Sirius grinned at her slyly and shifted the trunk on his shoulder.
"You're not the only one that can talk fancy. Remember I had to grow up with Ursula." A shadow of anger flicked quickly across the surface of Sirius' grey eyes. "I suppose she'll be here in a couple of hours to find you."
Andromeda stopped in alarm, looking sharply at Sirius. "They know where you live? They told me they hadn't the foggiest where you were, in fact they said you could be dead for all they know." Andromeda knew she shouldn't be shocked but it still hurt to think that her family was so… so wrapped up in themselves that they had to disown anyone that could possibly disgrace them.
"And that surprises you? I thought you had our mothers pegged better than that little cousin."
"Let me be, Sirius Black," Andromeda snapped defensively, her pride thoroughly wounded. She couldn't stand when people questioned her intelligence.
"Don't get all mopey. It'll ruin the party." Sirius stopped in front of room number 613 and turned the doorknob. "Welcome to my home."
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