A/N: Last chapter for Andromeda! But we're not completely done with her yet, as you will see in the next chapter. Happy reading and please leave a review!

WC: 989

Friday 25th December 1970, 8:55 AM

It's a funny thing, mistletoe, Andromeda muses as she unwraps her presents under the pine tree the elves have put up and decorated in brilliant hues of silver and red, as they have done every single Yule.

It's barely 9 in the morning, which is quite usual too, because after all, it is Yule. She doubts she'll ever get a lie in on the 25th of December, because when it's not her sisters and herself up at the crack of dawn like they did when they were younger, it's her cousins who get up early, all excited.

Well, even though the pair of them were looking a little morose last night.

Sirius, she can understand. He's the sore thumb, the odd one out. He's like her, actually, but he's only eleven; he doesn't know what to do with this fire burning inside him that screams rebellion at everyone of Aunt Walburga's orders. That's whne the fire turns against him and leaves little blue marks all over his arms. Andromeda's heart goes out to him when she sees that. But there isn't much she can do, or she can dare. She's no Gryffindor after all.

But she's rather not think about that on Yule, no.

As for Regulus, he's usually the little light in their family, the one who brings back innocence and light-heartedness to these family reunions that just seem to drag on and on and on. But, this year, maybe he's starting to realise that there is more to being a Black than what he can see. Maybe he's starting to see the darker side of who being a Black is. Though what he will do with this newfound knowledge that all strikes them at one point, is his decision.

She's rather not think about that either. Yes, she is a coward, and she knows it. But now is not the time.

The mistletoe she is musing about is not truly mistletoe, the live green one that the elves have hung above the doors and that Andromeda is steadfastly avoiding because she really, really doesn't want to have to give Rodolphus Lestrange a kiss when he comes over for dinner later on. She'll let her sister keep her poor choices, thank you very much. No, this mistletoe is silver – pure, of course, Toujours bloody pure – and it's on a necklace. It's from her sister, Cissy, and it's rather elegant and absolutely something she would wear. Cissy has always had an eye for fashion, and she knows what will compliment her best. But that's not the funny thing about the mistletoe.

No. It's more that mistletoe is quite a common ingredient in the Potions Andromeda likes to brew. It's one of the main ingredients of the Calming Draught. It's used in a couple of healing potions and antidotes. Fertility potions always have mistletoe in them. It has so many uses in Potions, she always have a dried branch of it in her Potions Kit, so it's funny that Cissy thought of giving it to her.

And then, even 'funnier', is the meaning that's been associated to it underneath all those virtuous uses. Now, it's meaning is love, romance, and kissing underneath it. And frankly, there's only one person she's like to be kissing underneath the mistletoe; and it's very, very unlikely she ever will in front of Cissy, or any of her family for that matter.

Some part of her wonders how Cissy knew exactly what to gift her. She loves it, she adores it, it's rather perfect and she puts it on immediately. The silver chain is smooth against her skin and it makes it tingle and break out in light goose-bumps. It definitely makes her present look pale in comparison.

"Do you like it?" Cissy asks her. She's been sitting next to her, unwrapping her own presents.

"I love it," Andromeda tells her, and the smile on her face is absolutely genuine, "So, so much. It's beautiful, Cissy."

Cissy preens. "I'm so glad! I saw it in the shop and immediately thought of you!"

"Well, it's lovely. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome!"

See, it's funny how Cissy saw the necklace and thought of her. Cissy knows her so well, and at the same time, she doesn't. It's just a sign of the contradiction Andromeda is living, the secret she is living, the lie she is living.

"Do you like what I got you?" she asks, because it seems like the thing to say, even if she knows Cissy definitely won't be as enthralled by her present as Andromeda is with hers.

"They look so interesting!" Cissy says, but it's lacking that excitement at the end of her sentence.

Andromeda is not vexed. After all, she wasn't too sure what to give her sister and only gifted her the books at the bookshop that were put up at the front and seemed to be popular and something a fifteen-year-old girl would read. She's had a lot of ideas of books to give Cissy, but all of them are Muggle books, and while she knows Cissy would like them, she just can't give them to her.

"Great! Well, I hope you have fun reading them."

"So do I!"

The rest of the gift-giving is quite uneventful. She gets some more books from her Aunt and Uncle, a gaudy, bronze pair of earrings from her parents, which are probably heirloom but Andromeda think are really ugly, and some beauty products from Bella. On the whole, she's rather happy, but not completely. There's still no Ted and she misses him. She hopes he'll get her package on time, and she hopes Sugarplum forgives her for the weight of the parcel.

In the meantime, they still have to get ready for the lunch the elves have been slaving over. She doesn't know how she'll dress yet, but she knows it will be something that goes with her lovely, lovely new necklace.