DISCLAIMER: The ideas are mine, the characters, sadly are not.

"I am invariably late for appointments - sometimes as much as two hours. I've tried to change my ways but the things that make me late are too strong, and too pleasing."

Marilyn Monroe

Chapter 5 - 1962, Spring

"Where is your sister?" the professor asked, checking the time, but neither myself nor Bella could offer a response.

We had been waiting for Andromeda for about fifteen minutes already. Bella and I were sitting, side by side, wearing beautiful robes recently made for us at our mother's request, and we each held a small notebook in our laps. It was time for our weekly lesson on Theory of Magic and Andromeda was late…

There is no elementary school for the children of wizards. Many children of inferior birth attend muggle schools in the years that precede Hogwarts, but that was, of course, out of the question for us. For the most part, our education was handled by the family. Aunt Walburga supervised our curriculum herself, and it was she who instructed us on the genealogy of our family. Great-Uncle Caspar, who came from a long line of public men in the Wizardry World, was our teacher in the matters of politics. But there were other teachers. My sisters and I – and, in time, our little cousins, Sirius and Regulus, - had some of the best private tutors in Britain.

Adalbert Waffling himself was our instructor in magical theory, and I still have his notes on my essay about the Fundamental Laws of Magic. In fact, that afternoon, it was he who was waiting with Bellatrix and me for Andromeda's arrival.

"Late again, Andromeda," professor Waffling said, fixing the spectacles over the bridge of his nose when she walked in.

"I'm sorry, professor," she said, taking a seat to my left. Andromeda looked quite dishevelled, her face was flustered as if she'd run to get there and her hair had not been brushed.

"Very well, I believe when we last spoke we were discussing the Fundamental Laws of Magic. Let's start with Bellatrix. We talked about the ethical implications of the first law. Now, did you do your research on the meaning of ethics?"

And almost immediately Bellatrix started repeating the concepts she had memorized without even having to glance at the notes in her notebook. Those were unusual lessons we had. There was, of course, an age gap between us, so, although we usually sat down and listened to the professor's talk on the same topic, we had very different assignments to keep us busy the rest of the week. Bellatrix' assignments had the highest degree of complexity, as she was the elder. This time, she had to understand the ethical implications of the fundamental laws. Andromeda was supposed to write an essay exploring the meaning of the first law. As, for myself, memorizing the fundamental laws and being able to copy them on my parchment was enough to get a smile out of old professor Waffling. I five years old then, and I had been looking forward to that for what seemed like forever. I hated it when my sisters were locked away in the library with their teachers and I had to find ways to amuse myself.

Andy and I listened quietly as Bella and the professor talked about the subject of Ethics. He asked us if we understood the discussion, and I did. I thought I understood, or perhaps I pretended I understood because I did not want him to think I was stupid.

"Now, Andromeda, did you prepare the essay on the interpretations of the first law?" he turned to my middle sister.

Andy was quiet for a moment. Then she gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Well, may I see it?" He asked, reaching out with his hand and expecting her to handle him a piece of parchment or something of the sort.

"I forgot," Andy said, finally.

"You forgot?" He asked incredulously, "Andromeda, this is the third time in three weeks you do not bring your assignment, I'm afraid I shall have to communicate your father about this. Now, Narcissa, did you copy down the laws in your folio? Could you read them aloud for me?"

I started reading them, dutifully, but Andromeda interrupted us.

"Well, I will tell my father on you too!" She said to the teacher, in a daring voice.

"Miss Black, don't interrupt your sister," he said harshly, "you may report whatever you with to your father after we are done."

"I will!" she continued, "like, why don't you teach us, some real things, some useful things?"

"Don't you believe that the fundamental laws of magic are 'useful things'?"

"They're just a bunch of laws that you made up. I bet you don't know anything about… mathematics!"

He chuckled.

"Miss Black, what could you possibly know about mathematics?"

"Well, I happen to know a lot about mathematics, look," she said, proudly, opening up her folio and showing several pages full of small numbers and mysterious symbols, almost as if she'd been hoping the professor would ask that.

"Where did you learn this?" He asked gravely, turning the pages slowly.

"Does it matter? Everybody knows these things. Children as old as Cissy know these things, how come you know nothing about it?"

"Everybody?" He asked quietly, "even well-born young ladies such as yourself?"

"Well, no..." Andy bit her lip. She seemed to be debating something in her own head but she must have decided that it was worth it to say it out loud, because she added: "Because apparently being well-born means we know less than what like muggle kids know."

There was some silence in the room. The professor folded the folio and handed it back to her.

"There are many types of knowledge, miss Black. It is unreasonable to expect every person to know it all. Now, don't you think it is reasonable to assume that the things learnt by non-magical children are not exactly things that would be useful for a young witch?"

Andromeda had no answer to that.

"Narcissa, if you'll continue, please. I believe you were reading the second law."

Our lesson ended rather quickly after that and we all went up to Andromeda's room while professor Waffling talked to our father. In the beginning, I was trying to listen to the conversation downstairs, but that became impossible because Bella wouldn't quit until Andy told her where had she learnt all those things about numbers.

"I am not telling you, Bella, because you'll tell on me!"

"If you have been visiting that-" Bella started, but Andy didn't let her finish.

"Do you want to learn multiplication or not?" Andromeda asked, finally.

The two of them stared at each other for a long while. Then Bella seemed to quit and the two of them opened the folio again, and Andromeda taught Bella what she had leant. I just sat in her rug, brushing the hair of one of her dolls, not at all interested in all of those numbers or in how Andy might have learnt them. Later that day, my parents tried to get Andy to tell them where she had gotten those ideas, but she had concocted a convincing story, and her punishment was not that severe. She was on probation for a long time, and she was forbidden to go out and play with her broomstick, but she didn't seem to mind. If anything, our parents' determination to confine her to the house only strengthened her resolve to find new ways to sneak out and explore.

There would be several times in later years when I would wonder how it was possible that three girls raised in the same house, taught the same values and exposed to the same influences might have turned out so radically different from each other. It took me a long time to understand why.

In spite of our upbringing, our character lies in our own hands. I understand that now.

A/N: Thank you for reading, please review and let me know what you think

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