If she hadn't been staring at Narcissa, she might have managed to avoid him.

How had it taken her this long to discover the truth about her sister? Narcissa was deadly quiet, barely even listening to her friends chattering around her. She scarcely ate, rather mindlessly twirling her food around her plate. Her shoulders were hunched over as she stared at the plate with such an intensity, it was as though she expected it to open up and start speaking to her. Every now and then she would glance down the row where Roldolphus was sitting with the other seventh year Slytherins. He never returned her glance, never even acknowledged her stares.

For whatever reason, the two of them had decided to keep their relationship a secret.

This must have been the secret Narcissa was afraid of Bellatrix discovering. That was why she had run from the Great Hall the other day. Andromeda didn't understand this though. It wasn't as if there was anything wrong with dating Roldolphus. He was not only from a respectable pure-blood family; he was from a rich, influential, pure-blood family. And not all marriages were arranged, sometimes they were allowed to choose. And Bellatrix had her own boyfriend. Granted, Roldolphus was a bit older, but three years wasn't anything strange…

"Hello, Andromeda."

She whirled around so fast she gave herself whiplash. Rabastan was standing behind her, a crooked smile on his face.

He turned to Magdalena, one of her fellow sixth year roommates. "Would you mind scooting down a little?"

Magdalena opened her mouth as though she were going to say something, but then she merely nodded and shifted down the row without question. Magdalena had always been a quieter person, which was part of the reason why Andromeda liked her.

Except she wished, in this instance, Magdalena had resisted.

"Is it alright if I sit next to you?" Rabastan purred.

"I—"Andromeda knew she was supposed to say yes, but the thought absolutely terrified her. "Well—"

"You know, we're going to be married someday, so we might as well get used to eating meals together." His voice was as warm and polite as ever, but there was a hard edge in it she hadn't heard before, and the smile seemed to falter ever so slightly from his lips.

She glanced hurriedly down at her plate. "Right." She cleared her throat, matching his polite tone. "Of course you may sit here."

He did, in one fluid motion, and suddenly he was uncomfortably close. She gulped, but remained fixed on her plate in front of her.

He was silent for a moment, then he asked, "How are you?"

"Fine," she squeaked, then bit down her tongue, but it was too late to do any good. She could kick herself for sounding so weak and pathetic.

Rabastan hesitated before saying, "Is that really all you have been? Fine?" His hand inched toward her wrist, gently taking her hand in his.

It was like her entire body froze, for one moment, and then came rushing back in a frenzy. She pulled her wrist out of his grip and stood up.

"I'm sorry, I— I have a lot of homework to do so, I need to get to the library before classes start." And then she turned and fled without waiting to see how Rabastan responded. She barely noticed anyone as she exited the great hall. She barely paid attention to where she was going, turn down random corridors and heading up random staircases. She just needed some space. Rabastan's touch had been too much. It made her feel cold, laden down. Perhaps it was the guilt, of knowing while he was trying to make this relationship work she was running around with another man. It was better just to avoid him, so she could avoid the feelings of—

"Did you get lost, Andromeda?"

She froze. She'd been so focused on getting away, she hadn't looked to see if anyone was following her. And someone had. Rabastan had followed her from the great hall. His smile was gone, as was the usual bright glint in his eye.

"Rabastan! I—" She started, but she had nothing to say. She'd been caught. Though he'd probably known the library was a lie from the beginning. Still, there must be a way out of this.

Unfortunately, she couldn't think of one.

"The Library's on the first floor, but you knew that." He took a step forward. "Of course you knew that, because you're always there studying. The perfect student." He stopped a few feet away. "Is this really how you want to play?"

She closed her eyes, sighing internally. "Just wait—"

"One second you're all kind and flirtatious and the next you completely ignore me? I've seen you leaving the common room as soon as I get there. Blatantly running away from me hallways. So was that it? One kiss and you are ready to move on?"

"I just..." She shook her head, her nervousness choking up her voice. "I don't know what to do."

"And you think I do?" Rabatsan laughed humouressly. "You think I don't wish there was some way out of this? You think I don't want to run and hide like you're doing? But we can't."

"I'm not—"She took a deep breath. She'd flinched when he'd said she'd run and hide. Ted had said the exact same thing to her before. "I'm not hiding, but I need time to get used to the idea, to get used to you."

He threw his hand in the air. "How much time? Someday we'll tie the knot and then bam!" He slapped his hand on his leg. "We're stuck together for the rest of our lives. And you know we'll be expected to attend every social gathering together from now on anyway. And we'll have to appear happy. Content. And if not in love than at least a stable home for another perfect pureblood family."

She was shocked by the venom in his voice as he said that. Most Slytherins didn't talk so… openly… about the traditions of their parents. Perhaps she was reading too much into it, but it seemed he was implying something she'd long mulled over herself. How her parents, and many others, were so focused on preserving the pureblood pride, they'd forgotten how to be a family.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Those thoughts were dangerous, more dangerous than running around with a muggleborn.

"And what do you want me to do? Force myself to love you? I tried that once, it didn't work."

He flinched at her words, his eyes growing darker as he briefly averted his gaze. She felt a stab of guilt. For though it may be true, she couldn't forget how'd she'd felt when he'd kissed her. As much as she might pretend she hadn't liked it, it could never be completely true.

"Like it or not, Andromeda," he said as he glanced back up, his voice starkly quiet compared to their shouting from before. "This is our reality. And you can either meet me halfway as we figure out how to live this life, or I'm done." He lifted his hand, eyes narrowing as spit flew the clenched corners of mouth. "And believe me, Am as this close to calling it quits with you."

His last look was half-disgusted and half something else, something she couldn't quite identify. It looked almost broken, dejected even. But before she could put her finger on it he was gone.

And that was when she saw her sister peering around the corner, clearly having heard the whole thing.

For a moment, all they could do was stare at each other, before Narcissa finally took a step forward.

"What was that all about?" she said with a nervous laugh, glancing where Rabastan had disappeared.

Andromeda sighed, her thoughts a million miles away. "I'm afraid we're finding our engagement more difficult to navigate then we imagined."

"But you'll work through it, right?" Narcissa said, stepping closer.

Andromeda almost smiled. The concern in her sister's voice was touching, especially since they'd been seemingly drawing apart. Perhaps, once again, she could tell Narcissa exactly what she was feeling, just like they used too.

"In truth, I'm not sure Rabastan and I are meant—"

"What a silly question, of course you will." Narcissa giggled, though something seemed off about it, but Andromeda waved that aside.

"Actually, we've been—"

"You guys are perfect for each other." She sighed dramatically.

"Narcissa," Andromeda hissed, "You're not listening," But her sister was dancing away.

"It's just like one your books, isn't it? The dashing prince sweeping the beautiful princess off her feet…." She lifted a hand to her fac,e closed her eyes, and ran her hand down the length of her cheek.

"Isn't it?" she said again, when Andromeda didn't immediately respond. It seems she'd finally noticed her Meda's face, and that it wasn't the face of princess who'd been romantically swept off her feet.

"Meda?" she said again, her voice growing timid.

Andromeda took a deep breath. "It's not that simple, Cissa."

Narcissa shook her head, her lower lip beginning to tremble. "I don't understand. You're happy, right?"

"I, well, I suppose but…"

"You are happy, aren't you Andromeda?" Her sister's lip stopped trembling, and her eyes grew impossible bright and she stepped forward and grabbed her sister's elbows.

"You and Rabastan, you are happy together, aren't you?"

Andromeda's words died on her lips. She hadn't really thought about her sister's question, are you happy? Come to think of, couldn't remember the last time she'd thought about being happy. It always seemed like there were too many other things to think about.

But was she happy? She wasn't sure, but she at least knew she wasn't happy with Rabastan, which is what her sister meant.

"This is what you want, isn't it, Meda?" Narcissa could barely even whisper, her voice was so tight.

No, the answer to her sister's question was no. She might've wanted something, but this wasn't it. Yet she couldn't make the words come. How could she tell her sister this when Narcissa was looking at her so desperately?

She'd never thought much about how her engagement had affected the rest of family. She'd thought they were excited about it, and that was it. That Narcissa was excited about it, and that was it. But excited wasn't quite the right word to describe Narcissa now. This meant so much to Cissa, more than she'd realized.

Her twelve year-old sister's words swept over her again. "You're a romantic, you'll let some guy sweep you off her feet and then you'll love him forever."

Narcissa had to believe Andromeda's arranged marriage was still her happily ever after.

Because if it wasn't, what hope was there for her?

But how could Meda lie to her? Weren't you supposed to be honest with those you truly cared about? And she was already lying about so many other things.

But looking at her sister now, she knew it didn't matter. She couldn't hurt her like that.

"Yeah, of course." She forced a smile, which almost became genuine when her sister breathed out a sigh of relief. "We've got to work through some things, but I have faith in us."

.The worry lines quickly receeded Cissa face, returning it to the warm, bright face Meda remembered.

"And how about you?" Andromeda said while she still had her attention. "Anyone new in your life I should know about?"

She asked her sister this before, and without luck, but maybe Narcissa had just needed time.

Something flashed across Narcissa's eyes, and her mouth opened, like she was finally going to tell Andromeda, but then she shook her head.

"Andromeda, don't you think if I had a special someone, you'd know by now?" Yet she couldn't meet Andromeda eyes as she said this, afraid her sister would see the lie in her eyes.

"Yes," Andromeda almost couldn't speak as she swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. "I would."