Volume I

CHAPTER 1
Andromeda Black

Andromeda Black, at the age of sixteen, had known nothing but a life of wealth, comfort, and abundance. It was a closed, secluded life within a closed, exclusive group of people, confined to a limited number of closed-off and often isolated locations. The world, to a sixteen-year-old Andromeda Black, felt small, like a village. No, like a bubble. No, like an atom. The world was Andromeda's atom. And the more time she spent in it, the more it bored her.

Which was why Andromeda found herself brimming with excitement the day her older sister Bellatrix announced, letter in hand, that her classmate Liantris Greengrass had invited them to a party he was organising at his family's manor to celebrate the end of their last summer as Hogwarts students. The party was to take place on the thirtieth of August and Liantris had promised that the guest list included witches and wizards whom the Black sisters had never met before.

When came the evening of the thirtieth of August, Andromeda and Bellatrix apparated in front of Greengrass House.

Andromeda was familiar with the mansion. The Greengrasses were an old Pure-blood family and traditionally Slytherin. More than once had they invited the Blacks over for a casual tea or a high-society ball. Moreover, Liantris Greengrass was the same age as Bellatrix and his sister Maggie was a Ravenclaw in Andromeda's year. The four of them had known each other for a long time.

As they approached the gate leading to the front door, Andromeda and Bellatrix heard a loud crack behind them and turned around to see who had appeared. It was a pretty girl with a perfectly oval face, bushy eyebrows and a thin layer of freckles sprinkled over her nose. They had barely finished making out her familiar features that Sophie Gamp was coming at them with arms wide open.

'My favourite sisters!' she exclaimed, pulling Bellatrix in her arms.

Had it been anyone else, Andromeda would have feared for the person's life, but Sophie had been a constant presence in the sisters' life since early childhood, and her occasional displays of physical affection were thus tolerated.

She hugged Andromeda as well and kept an arm around her shoulders while addressing Bellatrix.

'I'm so happy you two could come! How did you convince your parents? I thought they would never let you.'

Bellatrix cackled. 'Our father never would've if Andromeda hadn't been the one to ask,' she said.

Andromeda rolled her eyes. 'Don't say that, Bella.' Turning to Sophie she added, 'I just told him it was an opportunity to make the right connections. I said the contacts we make at this party could help us in the future, since this will be Bella's last year at Hogwarts.'

'And it worked?'

'Of course,' snarled Bellatrix. 'Andromeda is the reasonable one after all.'

Andromeda bit her lip while Bellatrix and Sophie laughed. As gritting as it was to hear it from her sister, she knew it to be true. Cygnus and Druella Black would never have agreed to a request by Bellatrix; she was too "wild", they would say. And her little sister Narcissa, although undoubtedly the favourite, was too "immature". Speaking of Narcissa…

'You left Cissy at home?' Sophie asked. 'I can't imagine the fit she must have thrown.'

'Oh, don't even mention it,' Andromeda said with a sigh and a smile as they reprised their walk towards the front door. 'She yelled about how unfair it was for about three hours.'

'I'm thirteeeeen,' squealed Bellatrix in a gratingly shrilly voice. 'Why can't I coooome! It's so unfaaaiiir!'

Sophie was doubled over with laughter. 'Merlin, I can picture it so clearly!'

'She said there was no reason Andy could come and not her, which is ridiculous because Andy is practically my twin.'

Knocking on the front door of the mansion, Bellatrix glanced at Andromeda over her shoulder and grinned widely. The two of them truly could pass off as twins. They were born only ten months apart and both bore the patrician beauty of the black family with their high cheekbones, strong jaws and thin lips. But Bellatrix's hair and heavy-lidded eyes were as dark as ebony, while Andromeda's long, thick, shiny curls were a lighter brown and her eyes were softer and wider than her sister's.

The front door opened, just then, interrupting Bellatrix's relentless knocking, and Liantris Greengrass appeared on the other side.

He was very tall and very handsome and very aware of both those facts. It was obvious in the casual way with which he brushed back his luxurious blond waves and winked at them with emerald eyes. He squealed when he saw them and attempted to put his arms around Andromeda, only to be stopped by a frowning and unamused Bellatrix.

'Girls!' he exclaimed as if the oldest Black sister was not glaring at him. 'I'm so happy you could come! Particularly you, Andromeda, love. We barely see each other since we've broken up.'

Andromeda rolled her eyes. 'That was two years ago, Liantris,' she said. 'And we see each other often enough.'

Liantris laughed. He loved to tease her about the brief romance they had had when she was in her fourth year and he was in his fifth. Andromeda did not mind because it had been sweet while it lasted but had never meant all that much to either of them.

Liantris ushered them inside the living room. It was filled to the brim with high-society teenagers and young adults. Some were still at Hogwarts, others were not, and most were Slytherins, meaning that Andromeda knew the vast majority of them. It was not long before they stumbled upon Maggie Greengrass.

Maggie was a petite girl, with a short, curly bob of chestnut hair and eyes as green as her brother's. She had to yell to be heard over the hubbub of voices and music.

'Meda! You've come!'

'Of course,' replied Andromeda. 'And so did the rest of the wizarding world, apparently!'

Maggie grimaced at that. 'I know. My brother likes to make a commotion.'

'Now, now, Maggie,' said Liantris. 'Don't go around, ruining my reputation. Every single one of my guests is highly respectable.'

Maggie rolled her eyes. 'I'm afraid there are too many Slytherins here for me to agree.'

Liantris laughed but Andromeda noticed that Bellatrix and Sophie's smiles were not as genuine.

'Well, Liantris,' she said to distract them from Maggie's jest, 'if you're so proud of your guests, introduce us to one of them.'

Liantris made to think before puffing out his chest. 'Have you heard of Rodolphus Lestrange?' he asked.

'Rodolphus Lestrange?' Sophie exclaimed.

The Lestranges were one of the oldest, most noble families of wizarding Britain. Andromeda had met Rufus Lestrange a number of times (he was a friend of her father) but could not remember ever encountering a son of his. Her eyes naturally searched for those of Bellatrix and she discerned in them a look of even greater interest than she possessed.

'Yes, Rodolphus Lestrange, oldest son of Rufus Lestrange,' Liantris continued with a smug smile on his face. 'I invited him. My father and his work together at the Department of International Magical Cooperation. You ladies wouldn't know him, though: he used to study at Durmstrang.'

'From what I know,' said Sophie conspiratorially, 'he is one of the most sought-after bachelors out there.'

'Sure is,' replied Liantris. 'The Lestranges possess one of the biggest fortunes in the country, after all, and he is the heir of the family. Not to mention their blood is as pure as can be and so on and so forth…'

Maggie rolled her eyes and Bellatrix whispered, 'Interesting…' which caught Andromeda's attention; Bellatrix had never shown any interest in marriage before.

'I will introduce you,' said Liantris, turning towards Bellatrix. 'I was heading for him before I heard you pounding on my door. He is in the garden.'

The group headed out together, minus Maggie, who claimed she had heard another knock on the door. On the way, Liantris turned to Sophie.

'And what's new with you?' he asked.

'Not much,' she replied.

'Regained any of your family's fortune yet?'

Sophie lost her smile and her eyes lost their shine. She glared instead, in a way Andromeda had only seen once or twice on her affable face. Liantris laughed but quickly stopped to offer her an apologetic smile. It was a known fact that the Gamp family was on the verge of bankruptcy, although Sophie and her father tried very hard not to let it show: they might not be of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but they were one of the Old Families after all.

'I'm sorry,' Liantris said, sounding sincere. 'I won't bring it up again.'

Sophie did not reply.

Thankfully, they reached Rodolphus Lestrange before Liantris could come up with another gaffe.

At least, Andromeda assumed that the tall stranger with slick black hair, a wooden cane of waxed ebony and costly robes layered with satin and velvet, was, in fact, Rodolphus Lestrange. Everything in him claimed his Pure-blood status and he was standing at the centre of a group of other Pure-bloods who seemed hooked on whatever he was telling them.

'Rodolphus!' called Liantris as they approached the group, and the stranger stopped talking to raise a mildly startled eyebrow. 'This is Sophie Gamp, and these are Bellatrix and Andromeda Black.'

Rodolphus smiled discreetly before taking a step in their direction and bowing respectfully.

'The Blacks,' he said in a deep, gravelly voice. 'Of course.'

'What is that supposed to mean?' snapped Bellatrix.

'Only that your family has quite a reputation,' he replied, 'and that I've heard many things about you.'

Bellatrix crossed her arms on her chest and stood with her hips swayed but her weight on one hip. 'All good things I hope?' she sneered.

Rodolphus smiled wolfishly. 'All to my taste.'

Andromeda shuddered. She did not like where this was going. She dared a glance towards her sister and found in those black eyes an all too familiar gleam. Oh Merlin, she thought.

'Oi, Rodolphus!' called a red-head in the crowd. 'Mind carrying on with what you were saying?'

The little group that was amassed around Rodolphus started voicing its approval. Andromeda bit her lip as she noticed Rodolphus's eyes linger on Bellatrix longer than necessary before turning away.

'You're right,' he said, 'I was talking about the injustices done to the Pure-blood community.'

Urgh, thought Andromeda. Politics.

But the more he talked, the more attentive she became. The conversation was quickly turning into a lecture as Rodolphus went on and on about the importance of the old Pure-blood families as upholders of traditional values, and how the increasing liberalisation of wizarding society led to decadence in the bloodlines and loss of magic.

It became increasingly apparent to Andromeda that the young man was evaluating his audience, measuring whether or not they agreed with him. He must have felt confident that they did because after a good half-hour of preaching, he revealed that there was someone out there who had the best interests of the magical community at heart, and the willpower to act on it.

'We call him, "the Dark Lord",' he said, 'and he is looking for supporters.'

A heavy silence took over the audience. An uneasy knot grew in Andromeda's stomach and without thinking she started to mould her expression into a mask of perfect indifference. Her eyes searched for Bellatrix as always, but Bellatrix, this time, did not look back. She was focused on Rodolphus and her black eyes shone with a new kind of light. One that brought fear to Andromeda's heart.

'I would tell you more,' Rodolphus continued, 'but the Dark Lord thrives in secrecy and only the pure of heart can be allowed in his confidence.'

While he talked, Andromeda leaned into Bellatrix's ear and whispered that she was going to the bathroom. Bellatrix waved her off absent-mindedly and, disappointed, Andromeda turned on her heel and headed back to the mansion.

'Wait, Andy, I'll come with you,' said Sophie.

Andromeda nodded.

oooOOOooo

'This Rodolphus,' Andromeda said while looking at her reflexion in the mirror, 'what he was saying…'

'It was scary, wasn't it?' offered Sophie who was re-applying her makeup next to her.

'It is exactly the kind of thinking the Ministry is campaigning against.'

'Well, of course the Ministry would campaign against it. The Minister for Magic is muggle-born. Rodolphus and his Dark Lord are preaching that Muggle-borns are inferior. They seem to want war.'

'I know.'

'They aren't wrong though,' Sophie continued. 'Muggle-borns are inferior, are they not?'

'Of course they are,' replied Andromeda, annoyed. 'That's not what worries me.'

'What worries you, then?'

'You said it yourself: they seem to want war. You'd think we'd all have learned from Grindelwald's war, wouldn't you? Dumbledore's victory ruined a lot of Pure-blood families. Besides, "the Dark Lord thrives in secrecy,"?', Andromeda repeated. 'That sounds like a cult to me.'

'I know,' agreed Sophie, frowning. 'And seeing the reaction of Rodolphus's audience tonight, I say it is bound to take enormous proportions before long. Makes you wonder what the wise thing to do would be: pick a side or remain neutral.'

Andromeda frowned, and for a second, her mask fell and worry transpired through her patrician features.

'Bella will never remain neutral,' she said.

Sophie nodded pensively.

oooOOOooo

When the girls had re-joined the group in the gardens, Rodolphus had disappeared and Liantris had replaced him as the centre of attention. Mirroring their differing personalities, the mood had gone from conspiratorial to cheerful and festive. Except Andromeda felt neither cheerful nor festive. Sophie had joined a clutter of some of Rodolphus's audience, among which Andromeda recognised Thorfinn Rowle, Bertram Gibbon and Theodore Travers.

'Liantris,' she called, not caring that she was interrupting him mid-joke, 'where's my sister?'

Liantris made to think. 'I think I saw her sneak out while I was talking. I suppose she went after Rodolphus.'

'Where?'

Liantris smiled knowingly. 'He said he was re-joining his father who's with my parents on the second floor. But if I were you, I'd look for a room with a bed.'

Ignoring Liantris's bout of laughter, Andromeda turned around to integrate Sophie's group of friends. Absent-mindedly sipping the lime soda she had snatched from a server, she pretended to care about their conversation for what felt like ages before giving up and heading back towards the mansion.

She had a perfectly valid reason to go after Bellatrix, that reason being, she did not have a good feeling about Rodolphus. The Lestrange heir was four years older than her sister, preached for a potentially dangerous cult, and had that predatory aura about him that did not sit well with Andromeda.

Feeling rather anxious, Andromeda opened about every door in the house before at last finding what she was looking for, and immediately regretting it.

Rodolphus was sitting on a chair, in a study, with half a dozen empty bottles of Firewhiskey at his feet and Bellatrix straddling his lap. They were kissing, making wet noises and sounds which Andromeda did not ever want to hear come out of her sister's mouth ever again.

'Bella!' she called, if only to make it stop.

Bellatrix jumped and looked at the door like a deer in headlight, but when she saw Andromeda, she ignored her and turned back to Rodolphus.

'Go away, Andy…'

'Bella, you met that man a little less than four hours ago.'

Rodolphus groaned. 'Is your sister always that annoying?' he growled.

As if hit by lightning, Bellatrix pushed him away and in the same movement, stepped away from him. He stumbled out of his chair rather comedically, yelling a pathetic 'Hey!'.

'Get away from me you disgusting pervert!' Bellatrix shrieked, lurching worryingly towards Andromeda who caught her in her arms before she could fall in a lump.

'How much did you drink?'

'Let's get out of here…' replied her sister instead.

Throwing a disgusted look at Rodolphus who was rolling around meekly on the ground, apparently just as drunk as Bellatrix was, Andromeda nodded and helped her across the mansion to a comfortable couch in the living room.

'You'll thank me later, Bella,' Andromeda whispered, sitting down next to her.

'I'll thank you now,' managed Bellatrix.

'You were all over each other.'

'He was saying… interesting things…'

Andromeda raised an eyebrow. 'Like what?'

'I think I might throw up.'

And she did.

'Eww, come on!' groaned a girl behind them.

Andromeda turned around and became red with shame.

'Maggie!' she exclaimed. 'Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry…'

'It's okay. I'll just call the house-elf. Dipsy!'

There was a crack and the ugly, pointy-eared creature appeared in the living-room.

'Clean that up, please,' said Maggie, pointing with disgust at the little pool of vomit at Bellatrix's feet. Andromeda bit her lip, just as revulsed by the elf as she was by the vomit.

'I'm sorry,' Andromeda repeated after a while. 'This party was supposed to be a distinguished event.'

Maggie, who was now sitting on the other side of Bellatrix, laughed at that.

'Don't worry about it, Meda. And your reputation won't even suffer for it because my parents have been sending everyone to sleep in the tents pitched in the gardens.'

'Even Rodolphus Lestrange?'

'His father was with my parents on the second floor. He's just left, pulling Rodolphus by the collar. Didn't look too happy.'

'And Sophie?'

'According to Liantris, she disappeared in a tent somewhere, with Theo Travers.'

That was an interesting piece of gossip but Andromeda decided to think about it later.

'You wouldn't happen to have a sobriety potion, would you?' she asked.

'Used the last on Rodolphus Lestrange. Sorry.'

'Dipsy can buy a potion for hangovers tomorrow,' Liantris said, sauntering into the room with his usual swagger. 'Bellatrix can take it before going back home and your parents won't suspect a thing.'

'Thank you so much, Liantris. And sorry for the bother.'

'Not at all. You're our friend, Meda.'

Andromeda smiled hoping to conceal her uneasiness: she was afraid they held her in higher esteem than she did them.

As Bellatrix fell asleep, Andromeda and the Greengrasses chatted comfortably through the night about this and that, Sophie and Theo, Rodolphus Lestrange…

'What did you think about him?' Maggie asked.

Andromeda shrugged. 'He seemed… a little full of himself.'

'Well, what did you think about what he had to say?' insisted Liantris.

Andromeda took her time before answering. She had to be careful pertaining to topics as sensitive as those. 'I thought he sounded very passionate,' she said slowly, 'but there was something a little alarming about what he was saying.'

She noticed Maggie and Liantris exchange a look and would have frowned if she had not trained herself for years to conceal her emotions behind a mask of indifference. She was usually very good at reading people (she believed it was partly to do with the few lessons in Legilimency she had received when she was little) but this time, she had no idea what their exchange implied.

'Well,' she said, standing up, 'I think Bella and I should head to the tent.'

'You two could stay in my room,' Maggie offered.

Andromeda pretended to hesitate.

'Thank you, Maggie, but we'll be fine in the tent. What if Bella wakes up and becomes sick on your carpet. I don't want us to leave a bad impression on your parents.'

'My parents know you two well enough, Meda,' said Maggie, but seeing as Andromeda was not changing her mind, she added: 'As you which. Liantris, would you help Meda drag her sister to their tent, please?'

'Of course,' said Liantris.

As he gathered Bellatrix in his arms, Andromeda could not help but feel bad. She liked the Greengrasses well enough, but she would rather have a sleepover with her sisters. The three of them told each other everything. They were the only ones Andromeda could trust, the only ones whom she truly loved, and the only ones who truly loved her.

They were Andromeda's world.