Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling

Chapter 5

Steam rose from the Hogwarts Express on the morning of September 1st. The platform was buzzing with people. This irritated Druella Black. She did not enjoy being surrounded by common wizards. Her daughters followed behind her as she haughtily lead them to a secluded corner of the platform to deliver her signature sending off message.

Druella's eyes bore into those of her two youngest daughters. "I like to think that I can trust the two of you not to disappoint me. Salazar knows that neither of you have given me even half the headaches your sister has. However, be assured that if one inkling of news reaches my ears that either of you are misbehaving in the slightest, you will regret it. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, mother," Narcissa said while Andromeda gave a firm nod.

"Very well. You may board the train now."

That was it. No "I love you", "be safe", or even "goodbye". Just threats. It was the Black family way, but Andromeda preferred it like this. There was something about overly emotional families that just made her severely uncomfortable. Unfortunately, on September 1st, Platform 9 ¾ was always filled with just these kinds of families. She could forgive the young children for behaving like blubbering idiots, but there was no excuse for parents who were tearing up watching their children board the train.

Narcissa and Andromeda had only taken a few steps towards the train in silence before a tall figure approached them—Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa smoothed her hair as he fell into step beside them.

"Hello Narcissa...Andromeda." He drawled with supreme arrogance.

Andromeda forced a polite smile, but Narcissa's was genuine. "Oh, Lucius! How was your holiday?"

"Wonderful. I traveled to Bulgaria with my family, incredible history there. Have you been?"

Andromeda interrupted before she was stuck listening to the rest of their conversation. "Excuse me, I'm going to look for..." She never even finished the sentence because she heard someone calling her name.

"Andie! Hey!" She turned around to see Sirius strutting—for lack of a better word—towards her from the other side of the platform. That kid's confidence, or arrogance, was astounding.

Lucius sneered noticing the display, "Your cousin is quite the character."

"Yes, he is. Walk to the train with me?" Narcissa seemed eager to depart before Sirius could embarrass her further. Lucius offered his arm (which she instantly took) and they walked away together.

Sirius arrived to see their retreating figures and made a gagging noise at the sight of them. Andromeda knew she should scold him, but her own hatred of Malfoy made her laugh, as did the expression on her cousin's face. He was smiling bigger than she had ever seen him.

"Well, you don't seem sad to be leaving home."

He gave her an overly dramatic eye roll before replying, "Oh yeah. It's really awful."

They continued this mindless banter until they had boarded the train. Sirius glanced around casually once they were inside and walking down the car to get to find compartments.

"I thought it would be cooler." Sirius said disappointed.

Andromeda, who was walking in front of him, turned around to smile at him. "Sirius, does nothing please y—Oh!" Andromeda stumbled as a blond-haired boy walking out of a compartment had rammed right into her."Watch where you're-" she stopped realizing that she knew the boy. It was the idiot from Flourish and Blott's.

The boy looked confused for a quick second before turning in her direction. He offered her a dorky grin. "Andromeda! Hi! Sorry, I didn't see you there. How have you been? Enjoying the book?" The boy spoke to her as if they were old friends.

Andromeda was annoyed to say the least. She spoke in a dismissive voice."Yes, I finished it. Now, if you'll excuse u-"

"I've never met you." Sirius said, looking at Ted inquisitively. He obviously hadn't picked up on the fact that Andromeda had no interest in continuing this conversation.

Ted gave a friendly smile, "Hi, I'm Ted Tonks. A friend of Andromeda's."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I didn't think she had friends."

Ted looked at Andromeda as if trying to share an inside joke. "Oh, we go way back—very close."

Andromeda stared at the boy, Ted, in disbelief. Did he think he was funny? "I'm sorry, but I do not associate myself with people like you." She spoke harshly, making sure her words had the desired effect.

They did. A hurt look flashed over his face briefly. "Right...I'm-um-sorry for bothering you." Ted said, stuttering slightly over his words.

Pleased that he seemed to have gotten the message, Andromeda turned away. Sirius however, continued to stare at Ted, as if trying to decide something. "I think I like you, Ted." He said this as if it were the greatest possible honor anyone could receive.

Andromeda turned and gave Sirius an impatient glare from a little ways down the train. "Sirius, let's go."

Sirius dramatically rolled his eyes before following. Ted could have sworn he heard the muttered words, "So bossy."

Ted watched the two retreating figures and let out a sigh."Well, that could have gone better." he said under his breath. He was certain his best mate Gideon would have a long laugh over this story later. With one last gaze towards the retreating Andromeda, he set off to find Gideon.

"What was that?" Sirius said to Andromeda as they struggled to make their way down the train.

"What was what?" said Andromeda impatiently.

"Oh, come on. You were acting like Narcissa back there! That guy was being cool and you...you just...you acted like everyone else in our family!" Sirius stated.

Andromeda turned to look at her cousin. "I always act like everyone else in our family." She spoke in a hushed, angry tone. It was true. Maybe she wasn't as eccentric as Bellatrix or as feminine as Narcissa but Andromeda knew wholeheartedly that she was a Black.

Sirius appeared to disagree. "No. No you don't! Neither of us do! Or neither of us did, but now you're—you're changing. You're mean now, and you're dating that prick."

Andromeda lowered her voice so no one would overhear. "Don't call Rabastan that, and I don't know you're talking about, Sirius. I've always acted just the way I'm acting now."

Sirius shook his head, still obviously worked up, but calming down. "You just keep telling yourself that."

Andromeda glared at her cousin before deciding that arguing with him wasn't worth her time. "Let's go. I'll help you find Edrik Mulciber. He's starting this year too."

Sirius looked at her defiantly. "I'm good."

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "No, you're not. You really need to sit with-"

"This guy." Sirius grabbed the sleeve of a random messy-haired kid and turned to face him. "I'm Sirius Bl-" he paused. "Just Sirius."

The messy-haired boy did not seem the least bit unnerved by the unusual situation he had just been dragged into. He glanced from the furious Andromeda to the smirking Sirius with an intrigued look on his face before smiling with a confidence that rivaled Sirius's. "James Potter."

"Andromeda, if you need to locate me, my dear old friend James and I will be sitting in this fine compartment here." Sirius said with a smirk and a gesture at the nearest compartment.

Andromeda stared at him for a moment before resigning. "You know what, fine. I tried." And with that, she made her way to the compartment where she knew the seventh year Slytherins would be located.

She had not been alone for a full minute before she felt a hand on the small of her back. Rabastan, then came around beside her, and kissed her cheek. She shot him a curious look.

He smirked in response. "Just keeping up appearances."

She smiled back at him, now conscious of the fact that they might be being watched. "Of course."

This was going to be a very interesting year.

The train ride had gone by relatively quickly. Andromeda, as head girl, had had to meet with the prefects for a general meeting to go over some simple rules. The head boy was a Gryffindor named Frank Longbottom. He was pleasant enough for a Gryffindor. He wasn't too outspoken and came from a decently respectable family. Andromeda thought they would be able to get along well enough.

After the meeting, She'd gone back to the compartment with some of her fellow seventh year Slytherins. She'd sat next to Rabastan, read a book, and successfully avoiding holding a conversation with anyone that required more that one word answers.

Now, she was once again seated next to Rabastan and across from Evan and Lucius at the Slytherin table in The Great Hall waiting for the first years to come in and be sorted. Evan and Lucius were discussing some matter in length which left Andromeda and Rabastan to talk undisturbed.

Rabastan leaned towards her and spoke quietly. "This is all going quite well if I may say so myself."

"Aside from the death glares that I've been receiving from Slytherin's entire female population, yes, quite well." Andromeda laughed. She was used to her female peers disliking her. They'd always thought she was stuck up as she kept to herself so often. This year however, the stares were different. It was clear they were no longer about her misanthropy.

He smirked. "Well, you can hardly blame them. You've landed the school's most desirable young wizard."

"And most modest."

Rabastan ignored her comment. "I've been meaning to give you this," he said removing a silver ring from his finger. He placed it on her right ring finger, and the ring immediately tightened itself to fit her smaller finger.

Andromeda examined the ring. It was obviously quite old and had his family's crest on it. Bellatrix wore a similar one, yet Andromeda had never asked about it. "Family tradition?" She questioned.

He nodded. "It's a sort of pre-engagement step."

"And how many other girls have worn this ring?" Andromeda asked.

"They're past down, so I imagine quite a few," he stated. "I've never given it to anyone before however, if that's what you were wondering."

She nodded. "This will look good then."

He smirked once more. "Exactly what I was thinking."

Their conversation was then interrupted as the doors of The Great Hall opened and a swarm of first years walked in. Andromeda spotted Sirius almost immediately. He was standing towards the front of the crowd saying something to that boy from the train. They both had completely different dispositions from almost everyone else in the crowd. While most of the first years looked like they might pass out from nerves or excitement at seeing The Great Hall for the first time, Sirius and his new friend just looked like they'd seen all of this a million times before—they were almost uninterested.

After McGonagall explained how the sorting process worked and the hat sang its song, the sorting commenced. First up was an unfortunate looking boy named Edmund Acklen. He trudged up to the hat with his head down, staring at the ground.

"This one's got to be in Gryffindor," stated Evan from across the table. "Just looking in the mirror has to take some serious courage."

This earned several chuckles from those around them. However, the boy ended up in Hufflepuff. And so as first year after first year walked up to the hat, Evan made his predictions—which were most often derogatory.

"Black, Sirius!"

This boy received no prediction or mocking. He sauntered up to the hat with a confidence that no one else had yet to show. He did not appear nervous in the slightest. Andromeda watched as he sat down on the stool and had the hat placed on his head. She tried desperately to make eye contact with him, to warn him not to do anything stupid. Yet, he was staring up at the hat with a bemused smirk on his face.

The hat was on his head for hardly thirty seconds before it exclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Andromeda's heart stopped, but Sirius just hopped off the stool and made his way to the table that was cheering for their new member. On his way to his seat though, he finally made eye contact with his cousin. He laughed a little and shot her a wink.

In contrast to the Gryffindor table, the Slytherin table was virtually silent. No Black had ever not been in Slytherin. Andromeda knew all of the color had drained from her face.

"It's hardly a surprise," sneered Malfoy across the table from Andromeda.

Andromeda paid him no attention. She instead sought Narcissa's eyes a little way down the table. Her younger sister was staring at her with an absolute urgency. But there was nothing that could be discussed now. Now was a time for putting on a collected front.

"Yes, he's always been an embarrassment to our family." Andromeda stated turning back to Lucius. It shocked her how easily she was able to speak so poorly of her favorite cousin.

And, as if Andromeda's dismissal of the matter was a cue, conversation started up again at the green and silver table. Dozens of sets of eyes moved away from Andromeda and Narcissa and back to the sorting.

The rest went as expected. All of the other Slytherin shoo-ins were actually sorted into Slytherin—along with a greasy-haired boy named Severus Snape that no one had ever heard of. Sirius's friend from the train was also sorted into Gryffindor, and the two ended up sitting near each other at their table. It even turned out that the boy Rabastan had sent to Knockturn Alley a couple weeks back, whose named turned out to be Henry McDougall, had survived the trip. Evan and Rabastan had laughed as the hat sorted him into Hufflepuff. Then, after the sorting was finished, Dumbledore gave a brief speech (that was useless to the Seventh Years that were hearing it for the seventh time) and summoned the food to the tables, triggering The Great Hall to erupt in noise.

"Will his parents remove him from the tree?" Rabastan asked under his breath as he cut into the food he was piling on his plate.

Andromeda wasn't sure how exactly he'd found out about that family tradition, but she shook her head. "They'll be furious, but no. Technically, he hasn't done anything wrong."

Rabastan scoffed."He might as well be a blood traitor. You know you can't be seen speaking with him, right?"

She nodded. "In public, yes."

"Good. If you're careful then this won't reflect too badly on you." Rabastan stated before joining Evan and Lucius's conversation about some ministry matter.

Andromeda went back to pushing the food around on her plate. Thankfully, no one knew her to be a talkative person, otherwise, her silence may have seemed abnormal. However, at this moment, Andromeda's silence was abnormal. She wasn't silent now because she was bored or annoyed. She was silent now because she was worried. Andromeda had always known that Sirius had the potential to damage their family's reputation, but she'd previously had faith in her cousin—hope that with age he would realize his responsibility to his family. Being in Slytherin was a part of this responsibility. For Slytherin wasn't just a house. It represented a belief in the preservation of wizarding culture and traditions. This was the idea that the house had been founded upon. Slytherin was a place for those who recognized the importance of preserving these traditions and protecting the culture from those who might destroy it. In pureblood society, being sorted into Slytherin did not only say that you valued ambition, it said that you supported these ideas. Sirius being in Gryffindor said the opposite.

Previously, Andromeda had found her cousin's immaturity almost refreshing. She'd found it innocent. Now, she was beginning to see that Sirius was something to truly worry about. It was only his first day at Hogwarts and he'd already brought incredible shame to their family. She couldn't imagine what he'd be able to do with a year.

After dinner, Andromeda with the other Slytherin prefects led the first years through the castle to their new common room. She stood at the front of the group next to Narcissa, who appeared to be quite tense.

"We'll talk about it later." Andromeda said under her breath when her sister shot her an anxious look.

Narcissa looked forward and gave an almost undetectable nod in response. The two younger Black sisters had a knack for subtlety that the eldest lacked.

Once the first years had been shown the common room and dorms, Andromeda found Narcissa again. The two girls ended up sitting at a table in the corner of the empty common room. Everyone else was in the dorms. Technically, Andromeda and Narcissa were supposed to be in their dorms as well, but they knew even if Slughorn did happen to walk in and find them here, he wouldn't care.

"Lisantha asked me if he was a blood-traitor!" Even though the room was empty, Narcissa still whispered.

"What did you say?" Andromeda asked.

"No. Of course I said no! He's not is he?"

Andromeda sighed. "No, he couldn't be."

"Well, even if he's not now, it's only a matter of time." Narcissa said.

"That's not necessarily true,"Andromeda stated. "Plenty of respectable wizards have come out of Gryffindor. What matters most is what you do after graduating."

"He's bound to associate himself with mudbloods and blood-traitors. What if he wants to marry a mudblood? What will we do then?" Narcissa fretted.

Andromeda took a deep breath. "If that were to happen, then Aunt Walburga would burn him off."

Narcissa let out a sound of frustration. "How could he do this to us?"

"We don't even know that he did it on purpose." Andromeda stated.

"Oh, of course he did it on purpose," Narcissa snapped. "If he'd asked to be in Slytherin, he would have been. He simply didn't care, and now he's gone and put all of our reputations at stake."

"Narcissa, you've already proven yourself. Sirius can't take that away from you."

This appeared to calm her down a little. "Are you going to talk to him?" Narcissa asked.

Andromeda nodded. "I'll try to tomorrow."

"Make sure no one sees," Narcissa insisted. "I don't think that either of us should be seen with him at all."

Andromeda just nodded.

"We don't want anyone to associate us with him." Narcissa reasoned.

Andromeda nodded once again, sighing this time. For perhaps the first time in her whole life, she was finding herself truly disappointed in Sirius.