12th September 1972

Andromeda needed to throw up. Again. But there was one problem: she was sitting at the dinner table with Bellatrix and her parents (Narcissa was at Hogwarts).

"Father, may I be excused?" she asked politely. She hoped that there would be no questions asked.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"I... I'm not hungry," she said pathetically.

Her mother looked at her strangely. She usually had rather a large appetite. Compared with her sisters, anyway.

"Are you ill?" her mother demanded.

"Um... I'm not feeling my best, no," she answered. Maybe she could pass this off as a stomach bug. It should stop soon anyway; morning sickness was supposed to get better after the third month.

"What's wrong? Do we need to call a doctor?"

"No," said Andromeda, too quickly. Bellatrix looked at her strangely. She suspects something, Andromeda noted. "I've just got... stomach pains." There. Hopefully that was vague enough for them to ignore.

Her father nodded, satisfied. "Fine. Go. Ask one of the house elves if you want something later."

"Thank you."

It took all of her self control not to bolt out of the kitchen and down the corridor. She managed to contain it until she was out of sight of the kitchen. Then she sprinted, with her hand over her mouth, and only just made it to the toilet in time.

She had managed to hide her sickness up until then, with Silencing Charms and careful avoidance of food that would set her off, which she had discovered in the first few weeks. However, trust her to nearly blow it when she reaches (hopefully) the last few weeks! It was the egg in that dinner. Ugh. She shivered. She couldn't stand it.

Her stomach calmed a little. She thought it was safe to move. She cleaned herself up and turned her thoughts to the problem in hand.

Bellatrix. She knew. Andromeda was sure of it. Or if she didn't know, she suspected, and would soon. She knew Andromeda better than anyone. She had to think of something to tell her, and soon.

Sooner than she thought. Andromeda left the bathroom to find Bellatrix leaning casually against the opposite wall.

"I think little Andi has been a naughty girl," she sang, tauntingly.

Shit. Andromeda decided her best bet would be to feign ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about, Bella. Now, if you'll excuse me -"

"Don't play games with me, Andromeda," Bellatrix snapped. "I heard you throwing up in there. You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Andromeda froze. She had forgotten the Silencing Charm. She clapped a hand over Bellatrix's mouth and looked frantically around her. "Not here!" she hissed. "They might hear!"

"So it's true!" Bellatrix exclaimed gleefully. "My oh-so-perfect little sister, pregnant before she's married! Who would have believed it?"

"Bella! Don't go shouting about it!" Andromeda pleaded, and she dragged her into the deserted drawing room, pointing her wand at the door and locking it, remembering to cast a Silencing Charm this time.

"So how far gone are you?" Bellatrix demanded.

"About fourteen weeks," Andromeda sighed. "But more to the point, how the hell did you know?"

"Well, it's a bit obvious. For one thing, I just caught you throwing up, but there's also the dark circles round your eyes, the fact that you spend most of your time shut away in your bedroom. And the way that you can't look anyone in the eye when they ask you a question. Oh," she added, "and the fact that you're avoiding Rabastan. I presume he didn't react well?"

"Wh- Rabastan?" she repeated, confused. She had been despairing, thinking that her cover had been blown. She had forgotten that Bellatrix didn't know about Ted. Andromeda breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, Rabastan. Actually, I haven't told him yet."

"Why not?" Bellatrix asked, puzzled.

Andromeda couldn't think of an answer. "Well... I... I don't..."

"Oh, you want an abortion," Bellatrix concluded.

Relief surged through Andromeda. "Yes. Yes. That's exactly it," she agreed feverishly. "If Mother found out I'd had sex before getting married, she'd kill me. And I don't want a baby yet."

"Yet?" Bellatrix repeated incredulously. "I never, ever want a baby," she declared. "Disgusting, noisy creatures. I've got better things to do with my time. Anyway, when are you having it?"

"Having what?"

"The abortion, of course," Bellatrix said exasperatedly.

"Oh. Soon. I've got an appointment... in a few weeks," she invented wildly.

"Really? How can you wait that long? They expect you to throw up your guts in the meantime. I'd just lose patience and do it myself. I'll do it for you if you want, I know the spell."

"No!" Andromeda exclaimed, disgusted. "No. I'd rather have it done professionally, you know. Just in case."

"Well, rather you than me," said Bellatrix.

"Mm," she agreed, not really paying attention. "Listen, Bella - please don't tell anyone this. Anyone."

She smirked. "Or what?"

"Or I'll tell Mother where you really were last Friday. And all the other times." Bellatrix had been to her first few Death Eater meetings. Andromeda was the only one who knew. Although their parents were Death Eater sympathisers, they would not be happy with their daughter, a girl, joining. It wasn't the proper thing to do.

Bellatrix looked torn for a second. "Okay, deal," she said eventually.

"Thank you," Andromeda said warmly, and the two sisters hugged tightly. No matter what she was turning into, Bella would always be her sister. Andromeda just wished she could stop her.

A/N: Thanks for reading, I would love it if you dropped me a review and told me what you thought.

Disclaimer: I haven't transformed into J K Rowling in the last hour, and kci47 is still amazing.

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