The two sisters stared at each other, eyes wide and voices silent as they processed the moment. Andromeda had hidden her relationship with Ted with such precision that Bellatrix couldn't have expected to find them together in a cupboard when she'd secretly followed Andromeda from the Slytherin Common Room. Andromeda wasn't sure how she'd been followed at all.

"What are you doing?" Bellatrix snapped.

She lunged into the cupboard and wrapped her hand around Andromeda's arm, tugging her into the corridor. Ted was barely able to avoid the door hitting him in the face as Bellatrix swung it shut with force.

"I knew you were up to something," Bellatrix continued, voice rising dangerously in the otherwise deserted corridor, "but this is worse than anything I could have imagined. Mother will be beside herself when she learns you've been sneaking around with Mudblood filth. Aunt Walburga will blast you off the tree. Is that what you want, Andromeda?"

Andromeda's jaw tightened. She squared her shoulders as she looked her older sister right in the eyes and tried to ignore the fire she saw there.

"Calm down," she said, surprising even herself with the level nature of her voice. "Anyone could hear you out here."

Bellatrix gave a short laugh.

"Calm down!? How am I meant to do that when I've just discovered that my own sister is a blood traitor? How dare you do this to our family. You've betrayed everything sacred to the Blacks. To think I let you sneak around for months because I thought you were getting up to harmless fun. Forget the family, you've betrayed my trust, Andie. Do you not feel any remorse?"

Shivers travelled down Andromeda's spine, but she didn't back down. Ted placed his hand against her back, and she felt as if he were transfering energy to her.

"I know how you feel about blood purity," she said slowly, "but I haven't betrayed you, Bella. I've done nothing wrong."

Bellatrix answered with a laugh that made Andromeda physically recoil.

"You've rejected your family, and you think you've done nothing wrong?"

Andromeda was filled with such anger that she took several steps forward, crowding into Bellatrix's personal space without a care about the consequences of igniting her sister's own fiery temper.

"I haven't rejected anyone. You're my sister, Bella. I want to be close with you. Knowing you'd react this way is why I kept my relationship with Ted a secret. This isn't about rejecting you. But if you reject me…"

She trailed off, unable to finish the thought. There was disgust in Bellatrix's eyes as she looked at her, and Andromeda knew that hope was lost. It had been since the day she'd returned Ted's affections. By the end of the day, Bellatrix would send word to their parents, and any illusions Andromeda had held that she could hold onto both Ted and her family would be shattered.

"When Aunt Walburga burns you from the tapestry, I'll cheer," Bellatrix said in the coldest voice Andromeda had ever heard her use. "My biggest regret will be how similar we look. You don't deserve the face of a Black. You're lucky that I don't disfigure you right now."

Andromeda fell to the floor, sobbing, as Bellatrix disappeared down the corridor. Ted's arms were quick to wrap around her, holding her as she cried. She knew Bellatrix was capable of terrible things, but she'd held hope that the dangerous fire inside her sister would never be directed towards her. No matter how radical Bellatrix had grown, Andromeda had held out hope that their love for each other would overpower Bellatrix's disapproval of her actions in the end.

She had been foolish.

Ted murmured words of comfort in her ear, but none of them mattered. They couldn't take back what had happened.

A strand of Andromeda's long black hair fell in her face, and there was a pang in her chest as Bellatrix's words echoed in her mind. She'd once prided herself on the hair she shared with her sister, thinking of Bellatrix as one of the most elegant people she knew. Now her own hair brought her nothing but anguish as a reminder of what she had just lost.

"Ted," she said, voice cracking as she gripped tufts of her hair in both fists. "Help me cut it off."

"What?" Ted asked, arms tightening around her.

She didn't repeat her words, only looked at him slowly as he came to realize the seriousness of her request.

"No," he said. "You're distraught at the moment, Dromeda. Give it time. You'll feel better. We shouldn't—"

"Please," she begged. "For me. I want it gone. All of it."

They stared at each other for a moment, tears shining in Ted's eyes.

"All right," he said. "I'll help you."

It took minutes for the hair to be gone but years before she would allow it to grow back.

Prompts:

Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments

Fortnightly - Women's History: Rowena Ravenclaw - Write about someone who is betrayed by a family member.

Fortnightly - Cabin Fever: Stark Raving Mad - Alt. Write about Bellatrix Lestrange.

Mythology Club: Write about being abandoned.

Writing Club - Assorted Appreciation: Nymphadora Tonks - Write about someone who changes their appearance.

The Golden Snitch

Nautical Ship Challenge: Andromeda Black Tonks and Ted Tonks - H.M.S. Blood Traitor

Word count: 818