Chapter 9 – The ugly truth

February 1976

Bellatrix had just finished packing for yet another trip to France. She came out of the bathroom in the girls' dormitory and found Andromeda standing in front of the mirror. She opened her mouth to say hello – when she realized that there was something fundamentally wrong with the scene in front of her eyes.

Andromeda was dressed in a shirt and trousers that looked much nicer than anything she would usually wear. Her brown hair seemed to have been washed and she had wrapped her fingers into it, trying to pin it up. And her face! She looked like she had actually put on some make-up!

Bellatrix found her voice. "What on earth are you doing?" she asked flatly.

Startled Andromeda turned from the mirror and blushed. "Nothing. I... I am just going out tonight."

"You too are going to Hogsmeade?" Bellatrix already knew that Narcissa and her worthless fiancé were going as well. Narcissa had been in a state of idiocy all day because of it.

"Yes," Andromeda nodded and added in embarrassment: "I am going to meet someone there... A friend."

"A friend?" Bellatrix dark eyes narrowed. "A boy?" When Andromeda nodded she started laughing hysterically. "Andromeda! I don't believe this! You scored at last! You have a date!"

Andromeda was blushing furiously and she glared at her older sister. "It's not a date. Not really. We are just going there, maybe having a drink or something, that's all."

"Sounds like a date in my book," said Bellatrix sweetly. "And who is the lucky one? Who is this charmer who could soften even my stubborn sister?"

"He is a Ravenclaw," Andromeda admitted. "His name is Ted Tonks."

"Ted Tonks..." Bellatrix repeated. "I don't think I have ever met him. Is he in the same year as you?" Andromeda nodded. "Aren't those Ravenclaws quite a dull gang?" asked Bellatrix.

"He is not dull," Andromeda assured her firmly. "He is smart and funny and..." She blushed as she caught the look on her sister's face.

Bellatrix frowned. "Well, he might be wonderful, but I don't like the thought of my sister going out with a boy I don't know anything about."

"Oh, so says the girl who heads off to some obscure place in France every other weekend?"

"I am the eldest. That's my privilege." Bellatrix looked slightly suspicious. "Mother and father wouldn't like this. If I'd tell them..."

"No!" Andromeda said. "Please don't do that. I promise I'll be fine. I'll let you know all the greasy details when you get back, just don't tell them. Please, Bella!"

Her sister's voice was appealing and Bellatrix sighed in resignation. "Why do I always let you persuade me to do things I don't like?"

"I don't know. I guess it's because you love me so much?"

"Yes," Bellatrix said reluctantly, stroking her sister's cheek. "I guess I do." She took the brush out of Andromeda's hand. "Leave this to someone who knows how to do it." With practised hands, she pulled her sister's tousled hair into an elegant bun.

"So where did Narcissa go?" Andromeda asked

"Oh, she was going to borrow a skirt from one of the other girls," said Bellatrix, frowning. "I guess she wants to look her best for Mr. Wooden Head."

Andromeda refrained from making a comment on their cousin. She thanked Bellatrix for her help and said that she had better get going. "Have fun in France!" she said and headed for the door.

But before she could leave, Bellatrix grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Her dark eyes were firm. "And don't make the same mistake I made," she told her firmly.


When Andromeda came down the stairs she met Sirius who had come to pick up Narcissa. His eyes roamed over her outfit and she couldn't help feeling satisfied as she saw a glimpse of clear appreciation in his eyes.

"You look very nice," he said. "Is there... anyone special?"

"No. What makes you think that?"

Sirius laughed lightly. "It's Ted, isn't it?" he asked her.

"Don't you like it?" asked Andromeda.

"Oh, yes I do," Sirius assured her. "He is a good lad. Good enough for you." He hesitated slightly before continuing: "I really hope you have gotten over what happened last week. James and the others... I have talked to them about it and they..."

"Don't worry about it," Andromeda said quickly. "No harm was done." She bent over to kiss her cousin's cheek. "I have to go. Narcissa is waiting for you upstairs."


The room was closed and dark, apart from a small green and silvery flame. It burned at the end of Lord Voldemort's wand as he stood before them. His deep, rich voice filled the space and the ears and mind of the witches and wizards that were gathered in the hall at Chateaux Lestrange.

Bellatrix was standing at the front line, between her two hosts. Like everyone else, they were dressed in black robes. She felt privileged to be there and she had a constant twinge of excitement in the pit of her stomach. She enjoyed the situation and the atmosphere in the hall.

Tom Riddle. Lord Voldemort. Ever since she first met him, she had been fascinated by the man and he had constantly been occupying her thoughts. She didn't know if it was the man or his ideas that had attracted her most. Probably a combination.

She found him handsome and his voice and manners had appealed to her. The intense look in his eyes had stirred something inside her. One look from him brought desire and lust to her heart. Not necessarily for him, but for the power that he represented. Men with power were more attractive than anything else.

But then it was also his ideas and his visions that he had explained to her. She thought they agreed with her own in almost every way. When he talked, it was as if he was reading from the inside of her soul.

"Because we will not let ourselves be hidden away from those who are inferior to us. Because we know we have rights over them. Because we know that we are entitled to take what we want. It is the right of the strong to destroy the weak. It is the privilege of those with superior blood to rule over those who lack it. It is..."

Bellatrix suddenly felt someone clutching her right hand and when she looked up, she was met with a grin from Rudolphus Lestrange. There was a clear message painted over his thick face.

"I want you..."

Bellatrix smiled seductively and went back to watching Lord Voldemort. But in a moment or so, she suddenly felt someone grabbing her left hand. She didn't have to look to her left to see Rabastan Lestrange before her and his thin, handsome face flashing her a confident smile.

"I want you too..."

Bellatrix had to bite her tongue. She purred like a cat. After the humiliation she had suffered with Lucius Malfoy, the world was really getting pretty again.


Andromeda couldn't remember when she had last felt so relaxed. And she couldn't remember if she had ever felt so relaxed in the company of a boy who was not Sirius. But Ted Tonks had that rare ability to make her open up, laugh and talk as if she had known him forever.

During the weeks that had passed since she first asked him to come with her to Hogsmeade, they had run into each other several times in the corridors. Every time, there had been something for them to talk about. Andromeda had begun to long for the Hogsmeade weekend and in his eyes, she could tell that he shared the same longing.

Actually, it was quite amazing that she had decided to ask him at all, considering how little she had known about him, Andromeda realized. She didn't know what it was, but from the first moment she had met him by the lake, she had wanted to know him better. And this night, she was getting more and more sure that her decision had been right.

They had been at Hogsmeade for hours and truth to be told, Andromeda didn't really want the day to end. They had been walking in and out of the small shops, they had been to the candy store, eating huge chocolate bars stuffed with cream and to the Three Broomsticks to have tea and scones.

They had not been quiet for a moment. They had been talking constantly, easily and agreeably. Andromeda had always been taught the Slytherin principle of keeping her closest information to herself, but with Ted, she wasn't afraid of letting him know about herself. She had told him about her grades, about her political opinions and her dream of becoming a healer.

Ted had told her that he came from Manchester, that Rajan Patil was his best friend at school and that he loved to concoct complicated spells and potions on his own whenever he had time. He couldn't wait for the chance to become an animagus if he had the ability.

Andromeda hadn't been able to keep herself from smiling. "You really seem to belong in Ravenclaw," she had told him. "You seem to have such a brain."

He had laughed in embarrassment. "I think you could have suited in Ravenclaw as well," he told her.

"Actually the sorting hat hesitated a little bit," Andromeda confided him. "But my family has always been in Slytherin so I was quite relieved."

"Ah, well actually I think it made the right choice," Ted amitted. "You seem very clever Andromeda, but you have that ambition as well. Still, you don't seem as... well, ruthless as the Slytherins usually are. Actually I never thought there were girls like you in there."

Andromeda smiled lightly. "People seem to have all kinds of prejudices about us. But then again, I guess we also jump to conclusions about members from other houses."

"That's right. I think we should all realize that there are great differences between people inside the houses. Just because the hat has placed you together doesn't mean that you are just reflections of each other."

"I agree," said Andromeda seriously.

They smiled against each other, their mutual shyness waning. As they kept walking along the street, Andromeda felt Ted's hand finding hers and holding it. He felt warm and secure and something tingled inside her like she had never felt before.

"Andromeda!"

She whirled around as she heard her name called out. She was surprised to see her cousin Regulus charging from the other side of the street, as always followed by his tail of friends, Barty Crouch and Evan Rosier. There was a look of shock in his face that startled Andromeda.

"Regulus? What's the matter? Is something wrong?" She was quite worried since he looked positively horrified.

Regulus stared at her. "What are you doing..." he started slowly. "What are you doing here?"

Andromeda frowned. She thought the question was very strange. "What do you mean? It's a Hogsmeade weekend, isn't it?"

Regulus kept staring at her with wide eyes. "I mean, what are you doing with him?" he hissed, indicating Ted with a voice that was thick with contempt.

Andromeda suddenly realized that Regulus' two friends were watching her and Ted through narrow eyes with suspicion clearly painted over their faces. She was both confused and offended. The last thing she needed was Regulus trying to play the protective male relative.

She managed to keep her voice calm. "What is that to you? We are here together, that's all."

"Together?" Regulus spat the word out and his pale cheeks were starting to burn in red. "Do you want to shame the family? How could you show yourself off in public with such a filthy, common..."

"Why are you calling him those things?" Andromeda asked him sharply and with indignation. "Who do you think you are?"

Regulus paled again. "Who I am? I am an upstanding, moral member of the noble house of Black. And I wouldn't even wipe my shoes on a filthy muggle!"

"If it's me you are referring to, then why don't you speak to me directly instead?" Ted's cold voice interjected.

Regulus waved him off like some irritating fly. "Stay out of this, mudblood!"

Andromeda was furious at her younger cousin. It was just like him to show up and ruin her splendid evening with his hateful accusations. "You must have hit your head on something very hard," she told him resolutely, barely managing to keep her voice under control. "I don't know where you got such a crazy idea, but Ted is not a mudblood..."

Her voice died as she caught the look on his face. He was looking angry and uncomfortable at the same time. Andromeda stared at him. He can't be, she tried to tell herself. Ted was so smart and funny and intelligent... She had never, not for a moment, considered that he could be anything but a pureblood.

"You aren't, are you?" she asked him slowly.

Regulus sucked in a sharp breath. "He didn't tell you!" he shrieked. "He tried to fool you! He wouldn't even let you know that he is a..."

"I can speak for myself," said Ted coolly. Turning to Andromeda, he said simply: "Yes, I am a muggleborn wizard. Or a filthy mudblood if you prefer," he added ironically.

Andromeda felt like her whole body had turned into ice. She just didn't know what to do, but her cousin caught the chance. "You see?" he asked her dramatically. "Don't waste your time on him, Andromeda, just..."

"Regulus," interrupted Andromeda harshly. "Get lost." Seeing his shocked expression, she added: "You heard me. Go and take your sidekicks with you!"

Her cousin looked appalled. "I can't leave you in the company of..."

"My life isn't your business. I said go!" Regulus was still looking reluctant, but finally, he seemed to give in. He gave Andromeda one final, disapproving look and turned away, taking his friends with him.

Andromeda swallowed hard and turned back to Ted. His blue and green eyes had turned very cold. "You really are... born by muggles?" she mumbled. The concept still seemed absurd to her mind.

"Yes," answered Ted flatly.

"Why did you not tell me?" she whispered.

His eyes narrowed into slits. "I really didn't think it was that important. But it seems like I was wrong."

Andromeda wanted to protest, she wanted to tell him that he was wrong, but for some reason, her tongue seemed tied. She said nothing. Ted sighed. "I guess this night was a mistake. Don't worry, I won't bother you again. You won't have to feel ashamed before your pureblood relatives."

When he turned on his heel and left, she wanted to cry out, shout at him to stop, but she couldn't. She stood like she was frozen, not knowing how long, when a hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder.

"Andromeda? What are you doing here?"

It was Sirius and Narcissa who seemed to be on their way home from their own Hogsmeade visit.

"What's happened?" Narcissa asked in concern. "You look so pale. And why are you alone? I thought you were going with someone?"

Sirius looked straight at Andromeda and his grey eyes were piercing. "You found out, didn't you?" he asked her flatly.

Andromeda swallowed, but she was still unable to speak.

"Found out what?" asked Narcissa anxiously. "What are you talking about?"

But Sirius didn't answer. He kept watching Andromeda through narrow eyes and in his grey gaze, she could make out a twinge of disappointment.