It was Christmas Eve, and Andromeda woke up feeling gloomy. She got dressed in warm clothes and went downstairs to the piano. She'd failed at one instrument, maybe she should try the one she'd played first.

She played her favorite piece. She was feeling more confident, but she made a mistake near the end. She put her face in her hands.

"'Meda you need to stop thinking about last night. I got your ice skates, let's go skating!"

Then Narcissa threw Andromeda's skates towards her before remembering not to.

"Let's go out on the lake! Meet you there!" She called, as she ran downstairs to get out of the house.


"So any drama at magic school?" Jim asked.

"A bit… A couple of my friends had a fight with their friend who wasn't friends with us, or knew about us being friends. So now my friends are no longer friends with their frie-"

"Ok I'm gonna stop you right there. That makes absolutely no sense. Can you explain what happened with names or something?"

"Alright," Ted said, then explained what happened better.

"I get it now… So this Andromeda girl feels like she was betrayed,"

"Yeah, but the only her friends didn't tell her was because they were afraid she was one of those people who hate muggles and muggleborns,"

"And a 'muggle' is someone like me in magic speak?"

Ted nodded.

"So is she?"

"Apparently she's really vague, but Gwen and Inaya think she is,"

"Does she seem sad?"

"She might, but she hides what she's feeling really well,"

"I don't know, this situation is dramatic,"

"Yeah so that's what's happening in Hogwarts,"

Ted picked up his guitar and played a song.

"So how's Melissa?" He asked, looking at Jim and smiling.

"We're going steady. She's good, do you want to meet her?"

"God yes!"


Narcissa skated across the ice and spun around.

She took Andromeda's and they span around together.

Everything was covered in snow. Two sets of footprints could be seen coming from the manor to the frozen lake.

"I love it when we do this!" Andromeda said and Narcissa smiled.

"I wish it was always winter so we could skate forever," Narcissa said.

"Catch me!" Andromeda said than quickly skated away, Narcissa chased her.

When Narcissa had caught up to her she grabbed her and they both fell onto the ice.

They laughed.

"Where's Bellatrix?" Andromeda asked.

"Out," Narcissa said, as she got up, "Catch me if you can!"

She skated away, and Andromeda got up and went after her.


"So where's your lover?" Ted said rubbing his hands to keep warm.

"We haven't done anything like that-" Jim blushed.

"I'm just teasing," Ted said and tapped his back.

"She's coming, don't worry," Jim said.

A girl with black hair and a big winter coat walked down the street.

"Is that her?" Ted said pointing at the girl.

"No! That's Peggy McCarthy!"

Another girl came down the street.

"Is that Melissa?" Ted asked, pointing at her.

"That's Kit Maverick. Hi Kit!" He waved at her and she waved back with a bright smile.

A girl ran up to them and almost tackled Jim.

"This better be Melissa," Ted said.

"Hi, I'm Melissa," She said put her hand out for him to shake. He did.

She was small and had blonde hair and brown eyes.

"I usually go by Lissy, though,"

"Okay, Lissy,"

"Let's go inside," Jim said and led them into his house.

They sat on the couch. Jim left the room to get some biscuits.

"So you met Jim in the nurse's office,"

"I fainted. I faint a lot," She said, laughing a little.

"So what do you think of Jim?"

"He's so funny. He told me that you and him wanted to start a band but didn't have enough members. That's all he told me about you… and that you go to a weird private school,"

"Yeah,"

"Here's biscuits," Jim said, as he put the tray of biscuits on the coffee table.

"Did you know when we were kids, Jim walked into a poll on our way to school. He did it two days in a row," Ted laughed.

"Really?" Lissy asked, "Do you have any other stories about Jim?"

Ted told every embarrassing story he had on him as Lissy listened with lots of interest, laughing a loads. Jim sat between them and ate biscuits.


After ice skating Andromeda went upstairs to her room to read A Dove Among the Crows , again, still not understanding it's meaning.

Bellatrix came and knocked on her door.

"It's time for dinner!" She said pounding on the door.

"Coming," Andromeda said and put her book down.

She opened the door and Bellatrix almost fell down because she was still pounding on it.

They went downstairs and sat at the dining room table. Alphard wasn't there; he was at his house.

"I hear that you are no longer friends with Shafiq and Fawley since they are blood-traitors, Andromeda," Her mother said.

"Yes," Andromeda said.

"They were lucky enough to make friends above their station, they are fools for downgrading. What does that say about where society is going?" Druella said.

"The youth don't know anything, they believe whatever that idiot of a headmaster says. I can't believe we are paying for such a terrible education,"

Andromeda and Narcissa ate in silence.

"It's like I've been telling the Lestranges, soon we'll have mudbloods teaching us pure-"

"Language, Bellatrix. We do not say such things at the table," Her father said.

Andromeda paid no mind to their conversation, and ate in silence.

"To think he could've been Minister," Druella said.

"That's what I've been saying, imagine how much control he'd have over everything," Narcissa said.

"What do you think about Eugenia Jenkins?"

"She isn't of pure blood, still better than that muggle-born, Nobby Leach. She's been doing well against those ridiculous Squib Rights riots," Druella said.

"I don't think Squibs should exist at all, we should kill them and put them out of their misery. Put those Squib Rights 'activists' in Azkaban while you're at it,"

"Bellatrix, go to your room. You're becoming a radical," Druella said.

"You just can't bear to do what has to be done," Bellatrix said, then got up and went to her room.

Fossrie, their house elf, took her plate to the kitchen to be washed.

The family talked politics, and Andromeda ignored the things they said.

When they were done eating they moved to the living room.

"Narcissa, go get your sister, you are going to open your presents," Her father said, and Narcissa ran upstairs.

They always opened their presents on Christmas Eve, following what Druella's family had done when she was younger. It was a French tradition.

Bellatrix grabbed her presents and so did Narcissa and Andromeda. They each had their pile and were ready to open them.

"You may open your presents," Their mother said.

They all opened their presents as fast as possible.

Her aunt Walpurga and uncle Orion had gotten her some jewelry. She opened the present from uncle Alphard, which contained a book of paintings by famous wizards and commentary on them with space so that she could make her own notes. Her parents had gotten her a fancy black dress that would reach the floor.

Narcissa's present for her was a blue skirt that would reach her knees. The present from Bellatrix was in a small box. She opened it to reveal a small black choker, which she would never wear but Bellatrix definitely would.

Andromeda has gotten Bellatrix a book on Magical History and for Narcissa a jewellery box. She couldn't see what else her sisters had gotten.

The girls went up to bed. Andromeda put on her nightgown and got in bed. She heard a tap at her window. She ignored it.

Tap, tap.

She ignored it.

Tap, tap.

She got up and went to check in the window, the tapping came from an owl carrying a parcel.

She recognised the owl as Gwen's, Bailey. She debated destroying the box but her curiosity overtook her. She put the card aside and opened it.

Inside was a black dress with a pattern of the night sky. She moved it to put it in her closet, and the pattern on the dress moved. It was a dress that reflected the placement of the stars above it. It was beautiful. She put it on.

She looked in the mirror, the same one she looked in before the ball. She looked so different now, so casual. The dress had long sleeves and barely reached her knees. There was nothing on it that would distract you from the pattern.

She twirled and watched the dress move and change. The skirt was so large it created a giant circle around her.

She went and opened the letter. The letter read:

Dear Andy,

We know we're not friends right now, but we looked in Diagon Alley for hours for this last summer. We know you'll love it.

We miss you so much.

Love,

Naya and Gwen

She changed back into her nightgown and put the letter and the dress in her closet. She went into bed, and cried.


Ted woke up and ran to his parents room and knocked on the door.

"Mum! Dad! It's Christmas!"

"We're getting up, we're getting up," He heard his dad say.

He waited downstairs in the living room for his parents to get downstairs.

When they arrived downstairs, Ted immediately asked to open his presents.

"After breakfast, honey," His mum said.

Ted's father made eggs. Ted ate them as fast as possible and waited for his parents to finish.

When his parents had finished eating they went to the living room so that Ted could open his presents. They each took turns opening their presents.

Ted got an electric guitar, (from his parents), candy, (from his grandparents), and a book, (also from his grandparents).

Ted thanked his parents and then ran and knocked on the door to the house on the right side of his.

It opened almost immediately to Jim.

"What did you get?" Ted asked.

"Candy, books and clothes, you?"

"An electric guitar!"

"That's so cool!"

"Wait, I have a present for you!" Ted said then ran back into his house to get it, then ran back out to Jim's. He was still in his pyjamas.

"Here!" He said, handing him the gift.

"I got you one too," Jim said, giving him his present.

They opened the presents. Ted gave Jim a colourful scarf, and Jim gave him a book called: Being an Idiot and Learning to Embrace it.

Ted hit him.

"Let's go test out my new guitar!" Ted said.

They went into the Tonks' garage to test out his new electric guitar.


On Christmas morning Andromeda went out to see her uncle.

"Don't visit Uncle Orion, their family is opening presents today, they don't do it like us," Her father had told her.

"I was not going to anyway. I am going to visit Uncle Alphard,"

"All right, be home before dinner,"

Then she had flooed over.

She arrived in his living room, which he just happened to be in.

"Merry Christmas, Andromeda,"

"Merry Christmas, Uncle Alphard,"

"Did you just want to wish me a happy holiday, or do you have something you want to discuss?"

"Shafiq and Fawley got me a present," She said, sinking into one of the armchairs.

"So?"

"We are no longer friends," She said avoiding his eyes.

"You want to know what my advice for you is," she nodded, "be friends with them again. They were the best thing that ever happened to you,"

"But they're friends with muggle-borns and blood-traitors," she said.

"You don't really believe that do you?"

"Not entirely." She didn't meet his eyes.

"Do what you want to do, Andromeda."


The chapter where Andromeda and Narcissa go ice-skating is forever burned in my brain. It brings me pain, but it brings me so much joy to have this be something that I've written.

I mean a bunch of other things happened, but when I tell people what happened in my fanfiction I tell them that I had a chapter where two characters went ice-skating and that I made a character cry for multiple chapters.

Read and review so that your thoughts can be burned in my brain instead of this.