Summary: Marauders Era. Andromeda Black is the epitome of Slytherin perfection and is regarded as one of the best students in her year. However, when she is forced to work with Mudblood Ted Tonks, Andromeda slowly begins to question everything she was taught to believe in. But with all the pressure of her family's prejudiced expectations weighting down on her, what will Andromeda do?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This story is for fun only.
Mature content, themes and explicit language.
Please note, this is a WIP, and so is subject to changes and updates. Please be patient with me. Thank you!
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TRAITOR
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Chapter 1:
The Black family were clustered together on Platform 9 ¾ far away from other families who were anything less than Pureblood. They all stood, immaculately dressed in expensive clothing, waiting patiently for the Hogwarts Express to allow students to board.
Distantly, Andromeda could hear her Aunt Walburga speaking gently to Regulus as she pointedly ignored her disappointing first born son, Sirius. Andromeda could see the latter grinning roguishly, hair dishevelled and uniform rumpled as he ran off to hug his fellow Gryffindors. She wanted to feel repulsed, but secretly, she didn't. It wasn't Sirius's fault he was placed in Gryffindor, but then again, he didn't help himself by befriending Half-bloods and Muggleborns. The Black family had to maintain their power, dignity and influence in the wizarding world, and so Andromeda wasn't surprised when Sirius was almost thrown out of Grimmauld Place by his mother for his choice in friends.
"He gets worse every year." Druella commented darkly from behind her three flawless daughters, eyes trained on her obnoxious older nephew. Andromeda knew it revolted her mother to be related to Sirius.
"Try to ignore him my love. He and all Mudblood lovers are below us." Her husband advised, settling a hand on his eldest daughters' shoulder when a group of Mudbloods wandered too close. "Girls, make sure you teach them who is best and show them why."
Bellatrix's fingers twitched with eagerness; she was already wanting to begin her 'teaching'. Andromeda simply raised her chin, determined to make her father proud and Narcissa stood, gazing stoically at those inferior to her.
With that, the trains doors opened and students began making their way towards the sleek red carriages. All three Black children turned to their parents for a final farewell.
Druella's cold gaze fixed on all of her daughters individually, appraising their appearance before she reached out, removing an invisible piece of fluff from Narcissa's shoulder and rearranging Andromeda's Prefect badge.
"Make us proud this year." She said simply, giving each of her children a quick peck on the forehead.
"Yes mother." The girls said automatically and in perfect synchronisation. The briefest of smiles graced their mother's lips before she and her husband disappeared in the loud crack of their Apparition.
"Come on." Bella said, her sisters obediently following her footsteps.
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They quickly found an empty compartment at the back of the train and as Andromeda settled into her seat, Narcissa also planted herself near the window to partake in the very Slytherin pastime of people-watching.
Out of the three, Cissy was the quiet, proud one. She was the most 'girly' of the three, usually opting to wear a soft palette of colours and was the most likely to engage in gossip. However, she was still hundred times more aloof than the average person. Andromeda always found it difficult to tell what her youngest sister was thinking with her being reserved even around her own family.
By stark contrast, Bella was the unpredictable and impulsive one. She was all wild curls and vulgar opinions, not fearing what others thought of her. She embraced her darker nature with relish.
In the middle of the two was Andromeda, being neither as coarse as Bellatrix or dutiful as Narcissa, but was somewhere in between. She was prim and punctual, calculating and calm. She had always considered herself as the more rational one of the trio, not as obedient as Cissy or as untamed as Bella. Looks wise, she was again, perfectly in the middle. Whilst her younger sibling had perfectly straight blonde hair that was so pale it often reminded her of moonlight, Bella had a head of unruly black coils that could never be tamed, even with magic at her disposal. Andromeda herself owned a head of silky thick curls of chestnut, which stopped centre of her back and eyes of the same colour.
It couldn't be argued that the Black sisters were beautiful. They were, and each was different from the last, something that their mother was significantly proud of. Cygnus too was pleased his children were not carbon copies of one another, each being unique in both appearance, temperament and skill. He often stated that his daughters were uniquely talented and stunning, something he wanted to exploit for family gain.
After marvelling again on the sheer differences between them, Andromeda pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet, scanning its pages for quirky or interesting articles. She quickly lost herself in the amusing stories and theories, hearing Bella passionately discuss a 'revolutionary group of witches and wizards' who were borderline obsessive about promoting the Pureblood ideals.
Andromeda wasn't a fanatic about blood purity by any means, but she did believe in what her entire family had communicated to her since birth. That Mudbloods were inferior, that she and the other twenty eight Pureblood families were elite witches and wizards who were destined to shape the wizarding world. Why would she argue with that? Bella certainly didn't.
"Cissy, did I tell you about..."
Andromeda shook her head and grinned behind the rustling sheets of her newspaper, easily tuning out her sisters rambling.
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Sometime later, Andromeda glanced at her watch and decided it was best to resume her Prefect duties and patrol the train. She rose from her seat, opening the sliding door which rattled as the train moved against the tracks. She walked carefully down the narrow corridor, meandering around the sweet trolley and ushering younger students back into their compartments.
"Andromeda!" Someone called and she turned to meet Rabastan Lestrange.
"Hi Rabastan." Andromeda greeted politely, noticing how tall he had grown over the summer, easily towering over her even with the relentless canter of the train car. "Are you going to the Prefects meeting?"
"Yes, can I walk with you?"
"Sure." She smiled, leading the way further down the train.
"Did you have a good summer?" He asked politely, nimbly moving around trunks and pet boxes that cluttered the main corridor.
"It was pleasant enough." Andromeda was being over-generous. It had been mind-numbingly dull, only hearing from a couple of friends and seeing no other family but her parents, the summer had been a struggle. "How was yours? Bella said Rodolphus mentioned visiting Europe in one of his letters."
Rabastan laughed. "We visited some friends in France which was... interesting."
Andromeda was going to inquire further, but they had reached the compartment for Prefects. It was almost full of bodies, all decorated in different house badges. She slid the door open and sat next to the eccentric Ravenclaw student Xenophilius Lovegood.
"Hello Andromeda, nice to see you." The white haired wizard welcomed with a smile when he noticed her. Andromeda doubted very much that he was happy to see her, no-one other than her fellow Slytherins was happy to see her, but Xenophilius was practically harmless and wasn't worth a witty retort. Instead she simply regarded him with a nod.
The Head girl stood, claiming attention with a loud clap and began to speak. Classic Gryffindor.
"Okay, so it seems like nearly everyone is here, so we'll get started. Hello everyone, it's great to see you all again, and we hope you all had a wonderful summer. Now this year we will be-"
The welcome was disrupted by a loud clatter outside of the cubicle, which immediately grabbed everyone's attention. The door was shoved open and a tousled male Hufflepuff student all but fell into the room. He had sandy hair and light hazel eyes that were almost golden in the sunlight that came from the window. He was tall and clad in his Hogwarts uniform, that was unsurprisingly unkempt.
"Nice of you to join us." Andromeda snapped, narrowing her eyes. She absolutely abhorred tardiness. The boy looked down to discover the source of the bitter comment and his gaze clashed with Andromeda's. It was a vicious glare against an apologetic frown.
"Sorry, I didn't realise the time." He mumbled to the two Heads, shuffling further into the room and tucking his yellow and black striped tie into his robes.
The Head Girl laughed, genuinely amused. "Don't worry about it Ted. You're here now. Right, as I was saying, there are going to be some slight changes to your Prefect rounds. This year you will go in pairs, and each ensure you do thorough sweeps of the corridors."
"Are we making up our own pairs?" Rabastan asked, breaking the uneasy silence that had suddenly enveloped them.
"No, we will decide who goes with whom, but we were considering mixing up the Houses, see if we can promote goodwill and morale for the school." The older witch announced, her tone sickeningly optimistic. "We believe that it will aid in mending relationships between houses, which have been... rocky for quite a while now."
Andromeda scoffed. Typical Hufflepuff. Everything had to be smothered with hope and sunshine and daisies. School morale? Really? Even if she really believed that, Andromeda knew that no Slytherin would ever happily work with other students, particularly Gryffindor. The word 'rocky' wasn't adequate to describe the hostility between them. The snake and lion were old rivals.
It would never work.
"If there are problems, come to us immediately. We would like to help if we can." The Head Boy proclaimed proudly before turning towards his companion. "Was there anything else?"
The Head Girl frowned in thought. "No. If you all want to go back to your compartments, I'm sure we will be arriving at school soon." With that, she dismissed them all with a small smile.
Andromeda stood and waited for her turn to exit the cubicle, but the small space was so cramped that when the train shuddered a solid form knocked into her body. She collapsed back onto the seat as the compartment shook. She instantly looked up, again meeting the eyes of tardy Tonks who was bracing his arm on the wall above her head, stopping him from falling onto her. She noticed with horror that their faces were mere inches apart and that all she could see was tanned skin dusted with freckles and bright sorrel flecked eyes. A moment later, when the car had stabilised the Hufflepuff gallantly offered Andromeda a hand as if to help her back up. The Slytherin's reflex was to recoil in disgust. A flash of confusion went through that tawny gaze.
"Oi! Don't you dare touch her." Rabastan barked accusingly, pointing a finger at Tonks.
The latter eased away from Andromeda and stretched to his full height. Surprisingly, he was as tall as Rabastan, and more built. This however didn't intimidate Andromeda's friend in the least. Instead, it seemed to irritate him even more. Rabastan was nearly panting with his soaring temper. "I said, don't you dare touch her. Filthy fucking Mudblood."
Tonks chuckled without humour, completely unfazed by the obvious threat in the Slytherin's tone.
Oh bollocks.
Sensing a dangerous situation developing, Andromeda pushed to a stand and easily swept past the Hufflepuff to stand beside Rabastan. Gently she pulled on his arm, coaxing him to follow her back down the train.
"Rab, he's not worth it. Come on." Andromeda said softly, still managing to keep a stoic expression despite secretly itching to get away from the Muggle-born.
"Damn right he's not." Rabastan glowered, slowly turning his back on the other boy as though he didn't trust him. Andromeda released his arm and continued down the corridor, chin held high even though she could feel the Mudblood's gaze drilling into her back.
