for em even though i realized too late that when you said "black family" it might not have been this branch of the blacks. um i hope you like it anyway? and i'm probably going to be writing you something else anyway, because you saying helgasalazar has ignited my muse aha
for quidditch league — round 3, magpies, beater 2, write about someone cutting someone else out of their life / optional prompts: 3. (restriction) only female characters / 6. (relationship) sisters / line from burn i used: you forfeit all rights to my heart
for assignment 9 — journalism, task 4, write the backstory of a minor character from canon
for geek pride — the umbrella academy, someone who feels like an outcast in their family
for writing club — character appreciation, "yeah. like i don't know that."; disney appreciation, when you wish upon a star (write about a heart's desire); bingo, 5c (family: black); amber's attic, "you were the last good thing about this part of town." (bonus); elizabeth's empire, family genre; liza's loves, dissonant whispers (write about running away); lizzy's loft, narcissa malfoy; angel's archive, south korea 2003 (drama genre); scamander's case, narcissa malfoy; film festival, "you're gonna make me cry right now"/"please don't"; lyric alley, so have we hit the limit
for international worker's day — rosa luxemburg (loss) and wandmaker (choice)
for supernatural fanclub — mildred hubble ("i'm so tired of being the worst")
for gobstones — silver stone (change), accuracy: shatter, power: determined, technique: "you're the best thing that ever happened to me, and i'm not giving that up."
for murder myster — who: andromeda tonks
for the game of life — career stage, action: brisk walking
thank you to the ql discord for helping me with how to write sisters aha
thank you to ever and kelly for betaing! :)
2451 words by gdocs
There are only a few months left of school for Andromeda. April, for the first time that Andromeda can remember, doesn't bring showers, and instead brings sunshine and spring air, deeply improving Andromeda's mood.
There are only a few months, as well, until she can leave her family. She doesn't want to do it right as she finishes school — she needs time to get money from her own savings and to figure out where she's going to go — but the fact is that she can't stay with her family.
Not when her heart is going against it.
It'll be okay, though. Everything will work out, given time, she believes. Suddenly, there's a knock on Andromeda's dormitory door. Her little sister is standing there, worrying her bottom lip like she always does when she's nervous.
"Cissy?" Andromeda asks, grabbing her sister's arm and pulling her into the room. "Are you okay?"
Narcissa looks up at her with big eyes, and Andromeda has the urge to pull out her wand. She wants to hex whatever's scaring her sister like this.
"I saw you," Narcissa says finally, her voice barely above a whisper. It takes Andromeda a moment to figure out what she says.
"Saw me what?" Andromeda asks when she registers her sister's words. A sinking feeling is already engulfing her, though. There's only one thing she could have been seen doing. She dreads her sister's next words.
"I saw you with this Hufflepuff boy."
Ted, Andromeda thinks, and this, this is what she didn't want to happen. She didn't want anyone to find out, she wanted to leave on her own terms, not by someone telling her parents that she's —
That she's dating a Muggle-born.
"Please don't tell mother and father," Andromeda says quickly. Her heart is beating so fast, and so loud that she's certain Narcissa can hear it. When Narcissa hesitates in responding, Andromeda's mouth goes dry. "Please," she begs.
"You're supposed to marry Malfoy," Narcissa says slowly, looking down at her hands and rubbing them together.
"I know, but honestly, when was that ever going to work?" Andromeda says, trying to keep her voice airy and light. Maybe if she downplays the situation, nothing will come out of it. Narcissa can keep her secret, and Andromeda can figure out how and when to tell her parents without worrying about them finding out from someone else. "We weren't very compatible in the first place."
The smile on Andromeda's face crumbles quickly when Narcissa doesn't look up at her.
"Are you going to tell mother and father?" Narcissa asks.
"Are you?" Andromeda counters. Narcissa looks at her older sister, and Andromeda can see that she's fighting with herself.
"Who is he?" she asks, finally, and Andromeda's willing to give her this, in return for her secrecy.
…
"He's a Mudblood?" Narcissa asks, sounding appalled. She's now sitting on the edge of Andromeda's bed, while Andromeda stands before her, telling her all about Ted. Her boyfriend. It's nice to confide in her sister like this. It's not like she can talk to anyone else about him.
"Muggle-born," Andromeda corrects gently. It had taken her a while to get used to saying it, too, but she's sure that her sister can catch on just as quickly as she had.
"That's…" Narcissa says, trailing off. She rubs the back of her neck, biting her lip.
"I know," Andromeda says because it had taken some time for her to get past that as well. Ted and she had started talking in their fifth year, as prefects together, and Andromeda found herself not believing what her parents had told her — that Muggle-borns had less magic than purebloods. Ted is just as powerful as her, if not more. The more time she spent with him, the more she started thinking that maybe her parents were wrong. It seemed crazy, at first, but when Ted had asked her out… It felt like the sanest thing in the world.
She just hopes she can get her sister to see the truth too.
Narcissa looks up at Andromeda, at her older sister, and she searches her face for a moment, before giving Andromeda a small, tentative smile. Andromeda grins back as her heart swells with affection for her sister.
…
Narcissa and Andromeda go home for the summer, and Andromeda thinks everything is going to be fine.
Until, of course, it all crumbles three weeks into their summer holidays.
Narcissa and Andromeda are sitting at the dinner table, with their parents, and arguing. Honestly, Andromeda can't remember what the argument is even about, but they're raising their voices, hurling insults at each other over the table.
"Girls, stop," their father says, his voice stern. Andromeda knows that she should listen to him, but there's something about fighting with her sister that makes her lose all maturity.
"Cissy started it," she says defiantly, sticking her chin out.
"You continued it," Narcissa shoots back.
"Girls," their father repeats. Andromeda heeds the warning and sticks her head down. Her not making eye contact with her sister doesn't stop Narcissa from blowing a raspberry at her.
Andromeda whips her head back up, glaring at Narcissa.
"Upset, Andy?" Narcissa teases, a smirk spreading across her face.
"I'm not the one who's acting immature," Andromeda counters, trying to keep her voice level.
"I'm not the one who still needs the light on at night," Narcissa shoots back, which is a low blow. She knows that Andromeda isn't scared of the dark. Not really; she just doesn't like it.
"Well, I'm not the one who failed her Charms exam!" Andromeda spits out. She knows that she shouldn't go there, not when Narcissa probably didn't fail, in all honesty, and she told her that she was unsure about it in confidence.
Narcissa looks appalled and hurt, but there's anger blazing behind her eyes. "Well, I'm not the one who's dating a Mudblood!" she cries out.
Narcissa's sentence makes the entire table go silent. All of the muscles in Andromeda's back tense and she knows it's only a matter of time before her world implodes. She refuses to look at her sister; she's sure if she does, she'll let something show.
Her mother looks up from her sister to her, and Andromeda feels a chill go over her when her mother's pale blue eyes graze over Andromeda's face.
"Is that so?" her mother says, her voice deadly soft. Somehow, it's worse than the screaming Andromeda thought she would face when the news came out. It pokes at her heart, and it makes her feel guilty for something she shouldn't feel guilty for.
She knows she has to answer her mother's question sooner or later. In fact, her lack of an answer is louder than anything she could say. The lie would fall so easily from her mouth. It's just one word.
She can't make herself do it.
Her mother draws her wand from her pocket, and it makes Andromeda's heart miss a beat. Her mother would never — never — do that to her.
After a few moments of painful silence, where Andromeda is sure that she's going to be cursed to oblivion, her mother finally says, "You have half an hour. Leave. Don't let me see you ever again."
It's more than Andromeda can hope for, so she pushes away from the table and flees the room.
She almost misses the little noise Narcissa makes in protest.
…
"Andy!"
The call comes from behind her, but Andromeda sticks her head down and keeps on walking, speeding up to a quick brisk. She doesn't want to seem as if she's running away — she has far too much pride for that — but having someone catch up to her isn't something she'd appreciate. She hates the number of wards their parents have put up; it makes it so that she has to walk half a mile in order to Apparate away.
"Andy!" the voice hisses again.
Andromeda doesn't understand. Why should it matter if she replies or not? It's not as if it'll change anything, not now.
"Andromeda!"
The use of her full name makes her pause. Slowly, she turns around and comes face to face with her sister. Her brown eyes stare at Narcissa's blue, which are full of shock and fear.
"What?" Andromeda demands. She can feel the anger bubbling up inside of her, threatening to spill out at any moment. "What do you want?"
Narcissa's bottom lip trembles, just a little bit, and Andromeda registers how young her sister is; just fourteen years old. She tries to reign in her anger, but it's a struggle.
"I want you to look at me," Narcissa says, her voice pitchy, clearly desperate. She brings up a hand as if to touch Andromeda, but she must think better of it as she lets it fall to her side. "To just talk to me. Please."
Andromeda breathes in deeply through her nose. She tries to calm herself, she really does, but she's flooded with the fact that this is all Narcissa's fault. The anger floods back.
"I'm sorry," Narcissa says, and honestly, Andromeda has a hard time believing that.
"Why?" Andromeda snaps. It makes her cringe for a second, the venom in her voice, but she keeps on reminding herself that her anger is justified. "It's your fault, after all."
Narcissa quickly looks at her sister and then glances down at the floor.
"I know," she says, her voice cracking a little bit. "But I'm —"
"It doesn't matter if you're sorry now," Andromeda says. She blinks hard, the back of her eyes tingling. "You should've thought this through before."
Andromeda wishes Narcissa would try harder. Out of everyone in her family, Narcissa is — was — her favorite. She's her little sister. She would do anything to protect her. Also, out of everyone else in her family, Andromeda hoped that Narcissa would be the one who thought for herself, who strayed away from the rest of the family's ideals.
Her stomach drops as she realizes that, like the rest of the family, Narcissa is going to grow up and further the rhetoric of blood purity that their family's been spouting for years and years. So much for hoping her little sister wouldn't turn out like the rest.
"If you come back now, and apologize, you can marry Malfoy," Narcissa says, looking back up at Andromeda, her eyes shiny. "You can still be part of our family," she says, her voice cracking. She adds on, rushing, "Bella told me that loads of purebloods have affairs, you can still see that Mudblo —"
"Don't call him that!" Andromeda snaps, causing Narcissa to flinch backward and look down at the floor again. "Muggle-born," she corrects, lowering her voice. The word is just a reminder that Narcissa isn't any better than the rest of their family. It hurts Andromeda.
"Muggle-born," Narcissa repeats slowly as if she's testing out the word for the first time.
Andromeda realizes, quite bitterly, that it probably is. "I don't understand you," Narcissa says next. "You have everything as a Black. You want to throw that away? If you leave now, you're never going to be able to come back."
"Yeah," Andromeda says with a snort. Narcissa can't actually believe that she'll be able to return at all, even if she came back right now. It's already too late for that. "Like I don't know that. No offense, Narcissa, but I really don't care. I'm so tired of being the worst. I've always been our parents' least favorite child, I've always been terrible at school, I've always been the bottom."
"You're not the worst," Narcissa says, and she does bring up a hand, grabbing Andromeda's arm so tightly that Andromeda thinks it'll bruise. She's taken aback at her sister's strength. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm not giving that up."
Andromeda yanks her arm away. "You should've thought about that before." She turns away from her sister and starts walking again, Narcissa's footsteps following her.
"Andy," Narcissa says after a couple of minutes, and Andromeda pauses, turning around to frown at her sister.
Narcissa's lower lip trembles and Andromeda tries to harden her heart. It doesn't work, she realizes, as her heart gives a pang.
"Even if you hadn't done that," Andromeda says, trying to calm herself by letting out a deep sigh, "I would've left anyway. I know that being with Ted is the right thing, in my heart —"
"I'm your sister!" Narcissa cries out, cutting her off. "I'm supposed to be the one in your heart, not this Mud —" Andromeda bristles, and her eyes must flash at Narcissa, because she quickly corrects, "this Muggle-born,"
"You forfeit all rights to my heart!" Andromeda says. She's done with this. She's done trying to be patient with Narcissa. Especially when Narcissa knew that Andromeda didn't want their parents to know, not yet. "You forfeited that the minute you ruined my life."
Narcissa's eyes well up with tears, and Andromeda thinks for a second that she might give in to Narcissa and return back to the house.
And then, she finds herself not caring. She had asked Narcissa not to say anything. Even at her younger age, she should've realized that Andromeda dating a Muggle-born wouldn't have ended well in their household. Andromeda needed the time to get money, to figure out where she was going, to make a real plan. She's not even sure where she's going now — maybe the Leaky Cauldron? She needs to get to Ted, somehow.
"You're my sister," Narcissa says, her voice in a low, desperate whisper. Andromeda's quiet for a few moments.
"Not anymore."
The sentence rings in the air, and it's terrible, but Andromeda doesn't take it back. She's not sure what kind of sister would make it so that Andromeda has to leave, so quickly she only had the time to bring a rucksack. She's not sure what kind of sister wouldn't understand Andromeda loving someone and accept her for it, no matter who it is.
She's sure that she can't start a new life with a sister like that.
"You're going to make me cry right now," Narcissa says, her voice shaky.
"Please don't," Andromeda says. It's all she can say, because she needs to leave. She can't do this anymore, can't deal with what was her family. It's time she left all of that, once and for all. Andromeda glances at her surroundings and realizes that she's reached the end of the property. Without another glance at Narcissa, Andromeda Apparates away.
She leaves behind Narcissa Black.
She doesn't leave behind a sister.