One Black Sheep
Diclaimer: This author does not want this story to result in Harry Potter and the Case of Copyright Infringement, so let's all agree that this is the product of the creative genius of JK Rowling, as usual. I do not, nor have I ever staked claim that I own any of these characters.
On with the story!
Prologue
Eighteen-year old Andromeda Black stood in the middle of the bedroom that, until that afternoon, she had shared with her older sister Bellatrix. It was dark – the curtains were drawn and the only light came from the wand she held loosely in her left hand. The walls and beds were bare. Bella's things had been packed away in preparation for her wedding to Rodolphus Lestrange.
Andromeda had returned from said wedding and quietly packed all of her own things. Now they sat in her trunk in the centre of the room, waiting.
She shivered. Outside, it was beginning to rain – she could hear the faint sound of water hitting the roof above her head. She could scarcely believe what she was doing. She'd always been the dutiful daughter, the submissive one. Her one and only slur on the family name had been her allocation to Ravenclaw house and not Slytherin – since then she'd tried her best to make up for it by doing just as she was told, all the while keeping her head down and not making any noise, lest someone notice that, in fact, she was not at all who she appeared to be.
But she could pretend no longer. She was not cut out for lies and deceit. She was not who they thought she was and she was not going to stay here to get caught up in what they were doing. Andromeda may have been the last person they would expect to speak out against it but as it turned out, she was going to be the first.
She took out her wand and shrunk her belongings until they would fit in her pocket. She wouldn't take any chances tonight. She didn't know how fast she would have to run, but she knew that she could not allow herself to be caught at any cost.
With her hand on the door handle, she took a deep breath. This was it.
For a moment, she couldn't move. And then, silently, she slipped out into the hall. Her footfalls were silenced by the thick green carpet.
Green. Every damn thing was always green. How she hated bloody green. Stirred on by this thought, she descended the main staircase, careful to avoid the creaky stair halfway down. The house slept peacefully as the rain drummed against the windows. In the pale light of her wand, Andromeda stood in the foyer and took her last look around at the house she had always called home.
She sighed as she realised that leaving this place would not be the most difficult thing she would ever have to do. In fact, she was quite relieved – it struck her as sad that this should be the case.
'Nox,' she whispered, and the light from her wand was extinguished.
She turned her back on her family home and her old life for good, and slipped out into the chilly rain.
The house slept on, as though nothing had happened.