Different: The Story of the Black Sisters

Chapter Six:

A Midnight Visit

With only her wand and trunk in hand, Andromeda Black headed straight for the street and jutted out her wand. Immediately, a huge, purple, triple-decker bus zoomed toward her.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus. I am Maggie…" started the conductor.

"Yeah, yeah…I know…just let me inside, okay?" said Andromeda; her sadness turning to rage.

"Well then, come on. I don't have all day!" said Maggie, picking up Andromeda's bags as she loaded them into the bus.

"Whereabouts are you going?" asked Maggie.

"Erm…"

"You don'ts knows where you is goings? Well, then…why don't we just…"

"The Tonks Residence. I don't know where it is…or what it looks like…but if you could just take me there…"

"Take her to 'The Tonks Residence', alright Willy?" she said to the driver, leaning on one of the poles. "Well, that was a quick trip. I hope you enjoyed your stay here on the Knight Bus," said Maggie rudely, pushing her out of the bus with her suitcase right after her. The bus zoomed off before Andromeda had even blinked at the small corner of suburbia in front of her.

It was a quiet and quaint little place, with what looked like morning glory flowers planted in the front and a small muggle car parked in the driveway.

Andromeda unpacked her broom and flew up to the first window. Looking inside it, she saw Ted reading with the light on. She tapped the window.

He gasped and opened it immediately. "What in the bloody hell…"

"Sh…it's a really long story…and I don't really have time…"

"We have time," said Ted softly, grinning.

Word by word, Andromeda re-told the story of the night's events and by the end she was crying and poor Ted was flabbergasted.

"I had absolutely no idea…where…to…go…and then," sobbed Andromeda, "I. Thought. Of. You."

She sniffled one last time. "Look, I should probably go wake my parents and tell them we have a guest and I'll explain tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll take you to the guest bedroom, and you can spend the night."

This part of Ted relaxed Andromeda, and she hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you so much, Ted. This means the world to me."

"It's fine…this is what boyfriends and best friends are for, isn't it?" he asked her, lifting up her chin and smiling. She smiled as he led her to the guest bedroom, her things dragging behind her.

Narcissa and Bellatrix awoke the next morning, Narcissa with a pang of guilt, Bellatrix a pang of glory.

There wasn't much to be said about last night, but the only sure thing was that Andromeda was gone forever. Their lives were too different from each other now, even if they were still sisters.

"Trixie, I can't believe you did that to her! You know that you hate Aunt Elladora! You know it! How could you? To your own sister?"

"Don't call me 'Trixie' anymore, Narcissa. It's too juvenile…and it points to our past. We are going to forget our past and move on. Andromeda Black does not exist. She is gone. Our only task now is to marry a pure-blood man and produce an heir…and not be a mud-blood like Andromeda turned herself to be."

Narcissa looked at her sister, tears in her eyes. "You know you love her," she whispered.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't think I even love you for being on her side," said Bellatrix harshly.

"It's no use. I don't know why I even bother," sobbed Narcissa.

"You shouldn't know why you bother. I am the crème of the crop, okay? I am the all powerful of the two of us, and you can't stop me from…"

"You're a Death Eater! You don't even know what it's like to love somebody!"

This shut Bellatrix up for a minute while she formulated her words. "I love somebody who loves me back, is that okay, Narcissa?" she said very slowly. Her fists were already clenched in rage.

"And who in the hell is that?" demanded Narcissa.

Bellatrix was ready to explode. "HIS NAME'S RUDOLPHUS LESTRANGE AND YES, HE IS A DEATH EATER, TOO IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!" boomed Bellatrix.

"HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU! HE'S JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER DAMNED PUREBLOODS! ALL THE SAME! JUST LOVING OF YOUR BLOOD!" screamed Narcissa.

"WELL I'D BE THE ONE TO TALK, NARCISSA, CONSIDERING THAT YOUR BETROTHED WON'T EVEN LOOK AT YOU!" bellowed Bellatrix, whipping out her wand.

"AT LEAST I DON'T SNEAK INTO THE DESERTED SHACK TO HAVE A GOOD SNOG!" yelled Narcissa, pulling out her wand as well.

"YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO ME, MS. UNDERAGE WIZARD!"

"OH YEAH? TRY ME!"

"CRUCIO!"

"PROTEGO!"

"IMPERIO!"

"BLASTAMANA!" shouted Narcissa.

Bellatrix looked stunned. Literally. She instantly was blown into the wall and froze up like an old package of meat in the freezer. Narcissa smiled and walked out of the room.

"I'm smarter than you think, Bellatrix," said Narcissa evilly.

Andromeda awoke to a bright, sunny morning inside the Tonks' house. She quickly got up and dressed, so she wouldn't have to go downstairs in her pajamas. Andromeda politely knocked on Ted's door so that they could approach his parents about her.

"Ted? It's me, Andie. I just…I mean…are you up? Because it's okay if you're not…I just wanted to tell you that…"

The door opened with a rush. "I've been up studying. I was wondering when you were going to get up," he said, inviting her into his small room.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Andie, sinking down into his comfy chair in the corner.

"Well…my parents are easy going. Most of the time. Dad's already left for work this morning, and mum stays at home, so there really isn't much to talk about. I know mum will say yes, because she likes having my friends around the house. Last year, I had two of my mates from Hogwarts stay the entire summer, and she didn't care less."

"Were your mates girls?"

"Er…no…but…"

"She might have a different approach because I'm your girlfriend…and even though we won't sleep in the same room or anything…she still might be uncomfortable with me staying. I know if my mum were still…" Andie trailed off.

"We might as well give it a try. That reminds me, if you're going to stay here, you better like food, because my mum is one of those people who ask you constantly if you're hungry or not…always cooking…"

"Let's just get through my interview process first, Ted," said Andie as they walked out of his room and down the stairs.

"Morning mum," said Ted, sitting down at the kitchen table across from his mother. Andie took a seat next to him.

"Morning dear. And this is?" she asked, putting down her coffee and the newspaper to observe Andie.

"Mum, this is my girlfriend, Andromeda Desdemona Black."

Andie grimaced at Ted. "I go by Andie, Mrs. Tonks."

"Oh, well, it's very nice to meet you, Andie."

Dead silence.

"I have some questions to ask both of you. Especially you, Andie. Ready?"

They both nodded.

"Andie, where did live before you came here?"

"I live just north of Oxford in a mansion that has been in my family for centuries."

"And why do you not live there anymore?"

"Look, Mrs. Tonks, I don't want to offend you or your son, and it's a very long story…"

"Just tell me," she said sternly.

"Okay…I told my family…um…okay. I'm a pure-blood witch, which means that my family has a history of witches and wizards from me all the way back to the beginning of our family tree. And my parents and Aunts and Uncles think that we all should 'preserve the pure-blood way of life' by marrying and dating other pure-bloods. But the thing is, Ted is a muggle-born…and in my eyes, there's nothing wrong with that, but when I told my family, they kicked me out and erased me from the family tree," said Andie in one breath.

"Interesting. And you say that there are other 'pure-blood' families out there?"

"Slim to none left, but they we are still in existence."

"When you say 'muggle-born', what is a muggle?"

Andie looked at Ted, her eyebrows raised. "Did Ted not tell you what a muggle is?"

Mrs. Tonks shook her head. "Well…you are a muggle, Mrs. Tonks. A muggle is known in the wizarding world as a non-magic person. Meaning that you do not have any wizard blood in your family, or anybody else who is/was a witch or a wizard."

"Oh, alright. Well, how did you meet my Ted?"

"Well…when I was in my first year at Hogwarts, I was sorted into Ravenclaw, and most everybody didn't like me because I was a pure-blood, and pure-bloods always get sorted into Slytherin. So, Ted asked me to sit next to him at the feast, and we were friends ever since."

"When did you two start dating?"

"When I was thirteen, and Ted was fourteen, he asked me to be his girl."

Mrs. Tonks lowered her eyeglasses and looked at her son, her eyebrows raised.

"So you've been dating for…"

"Two years," they both answered together.

"Seems pretty serious," said Mrs. Tonks shortly, lowering her eyeglasses again.

"Well…I guess you could call it that, mum…but it's not like we've done anything or…"

"So, you haven't ever kissed each other before?"

"Er…well…"

"You have?"

They both nodded.

"How far have these snogging sessions been?"

"Mum!"

"No, I'm serious, Ted. Things seem to be very serious between the two of you and we need to lay down some ground rules."

"Um…Mrs. Tonks…I promise you we won't go any further than kissing until we're…"

"Until you two are?"

Ted took a deep breath. "Married. Andie and I want to get married."

Andie smiled weakly and widened her eyes at Ted. "Is this a proposal?" she asked timidly.

"Yes. You could call it that. Andromeda Black, will you marry me, Ted Tonks?"

Andromeda looked over at Mrs. Tonks, who smiled. "Yes, I love you, Ted. I will marry you. But I…I don't want to throw my life away by getting married too early…"

"I won't push it until we're safely out of Hogwarts."

"Thanks for respecting me, Ted."

"Mum…is this okay?"

"What else could I wish for? My second-born son proposed to his beloved girlfriend in front of me…that must mean he really loves her."