I woke up the next morning to find Dora's bed empty, as usual. The sky outside the window was a smudgy, dull grey, and it was still half dark. I was tempted to go straight back to bed. Instead, I dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, remembering to take the letter from Evan with me.

The Great Hall was filled with chatter and the delicious smells of bacon, toast and tea. I quickly spotted Regulus on the edge of a group of boys from his year, and walked along the Slytherin table to where he sat.

"Regulus?" I asked when he didn't notice. He spun, wide-eyed, and then relaxed when he saw me.

"Oh, it's you," he said. "What do you want?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't sound too pleased to see me."

"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. I was reminded why Sirius was my favourite cousin.

"I've got a letter for you," I said, holding out the letter to him. "Evan Rosier- my other cousin- asked me to give it to you. I don't know why."

He snatched the letter from my hand excitedly before I had even finished speaking, and examined the seal carefully. I hadn't noticed the seal until then, but it showed what looked like a skull with a long, twisting tongue extending from the mouth. There was a strange kind of hunger in his eyes for a moment, and then he seemed ot remember that I was there. He looked up. "Thanks."

"That's fine," I said. Thinking that I'd probably been neglecting my cousinly duties recently, I asked, "So how've you been?"

"Fine," he said, barely taking his eyes from the letter. "Thanks, but I'd better open this now. See you later." He stood as though to leave the Hall.

"Right," I said, a little offended. "Bye then." I moved off down the table towards Dora, half-listening to him telling his friends he'd catch up with them later. I wondered what he expected to find in the letter which was so secret that he couldn't open it in the Great Hall.

Dora looked up from her paper as I sat opposite her, and gave me her usual cheery smile. "Morning," she said. "Want a section of the paper?"

"Yes, please," I said tiredly, accepting my favourite part of the Sunday paper (the Review section) and pulling a dish of scrambled egg and two slices of toast towards myself. "Anything interesting happen today?"

Dora pulled a face. "Not really. More muggle deaths."

I had just picked up my cutlery and was about to take my first forkful of egg when an owl swept into the hall and dropped a letter right into it, splattering egg everywhere. "Ugh," I said, pulling the egg-coated letter out of my breakfast.

Dora watched the owl as it soared away. "Pretty, but it needs to work on it's aim a bit."
"Yeah," I said. I was busy examining the letter- the address was written in large, flourishing handwriting which I didn't recognise. I didn't think that I knew anyone who would write in navy blue ink on pale pink parchment. Hesitantly, I broke the seal (dropping bits of red wax into my already ruined breakfast) and opened out the parchment.

Dearest Andromeda,

I heard, somewhat belatedly, that you were permitted to visit Hogsmeade yesterday. I had hoped that you would let me know the dates of your Hogsmeade visits, as I requested previously. We have things to discuss, and I would of course have been delighted to have had the pleasure of your company for lunch. Please make an effort to inform me of future visits to the village, if it's not too much trouble.

I wanted to hex him. I could almost see the sarcasm dripping from his words. The rest of the letter was filled with mindless pleasantries.

That aside, I hope you are having a good term. I myself have been very busy: it seems that every Ministry official wants a piece of my time at the moment, and of course I have been helping father manage the estate.

All my love,

Lucius.

I crumpled the letter up in my hand. All his love? As if, I thought bitterly. The only thing he loves is the mirror. I shook away the thought, however, and began to serve myself another plate of breakfast to replace the one squashed by the letter.

"Bad news?" Dora asked worriedly.

"Not exactly," I said. "Just Lucius." I didn't elaborate, and I was relieved that she didn't try to make me do so.

A few weeks later, the dates of our next Hogsmeade weekend were posted on the notice board in the common room. The holidays were approaching fast and the students around me talked excitedly of all the Christmas shopping that they hoped to get done. I wished that I could join them. The last thing I wanted was an awkward day with Lucius.

"Do you think he'd find out if I 'forgot' to tell him?" I asked Dora. "Or if my owl somehow got confused and, say, took my letter to you instead?"

Dora smiled briefly, but looked worried. "He found out last time, didn't he? If you really don't want to see him, you should tell him that."

"Easy for you to say," I grumbled.

"Meda, you're engaged to him," she said seriously. "If you can't stand a single day with him, you need to break off the engagement."

"I can't," I said. I sighed. "Let's talk about something else. This is depressing." I knew she was right, but there was nothing I could do about it. I did the dutiful thing and wrote the letter to Lucius, who arranged to meet me just before lunchtime and take me to a restaurant ("At least you'll get a good meal," Dora said- but even that didn't make me feel any better.)

The day of the Hogsmeade visit dawned clear and cold. Dora and I crunched over the frosty grass on our way to the village, our breath misting in the air. It was absolutely beautiful, and I found myself noticing every detail in a way I normally didn't. I felt as though I was going to my own execution.

We reached the village a few hours before I was due to meet Lucius, so we wandered around the shops. We spent ages in Honeydukes, poked around the bookstores, and then went for a drink in the Three Broomsticks. Normally, I would have enjoyed the trip- but today my enjoyment was marred by the knowledge that I was seeing Lucius later. The time we had arranged to meet came far too fast.

He frowned at the bulging Honeydukes bag in my hand when he saw me. "That looks like a lot of sweets for someone of your age."

I found myself blushing. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."

"Well, I hope you haven't been eating them. I've booked a table at one of my favourite restaurants. I hope you like it- the tastes are rather more refined than what you appear to be used to." He shot another critical look at my Honeydukes bag.

I found myself blushing at the jibe. "Wonderful. I love refined tastes." Then I realised how stupid my sentence sounded, and blushed still deeper.

Lucius cast one more sceptical look at my Honeydukes bag. "I can tell. Shall we go?" Without waiting for my response, he took my arm and began to lead me down the street. A part of me wanted to wrench away and tell him that I was perfectly capable of walking by myself- but of course I didn't. I walked alongside him like the obedient wife I would one day become.

He led me to a fairly small restaurant on one of the more expensive side streets in Hogsmeade. Almost all the tables were full, but the place was still quiet: all the conversations were held in low, muted voices and no music played in the background. We were led to our table by a house elf, smartly attired in a black pillowcase with white detailing. The elf handed us menus, and so the first few minutes weren't too bad: I was able to concentrate very hard on my menu, and neither of us spoke much.

After the elf had taken our order, however, we were left with no option but to make conversation. Lucius asked me politely about school and my family, and I answered equally politely. There were many moments of awkward silence which seemed to stretch on forever. All I could think about was the fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life with this man.

Then I asked him what he'd been up to recently, giving him a chance to talk about his favourite subject: himself. For the entirety of the meal. I didn't think that three courses and coffee had ever seemed to take so interminably long. I fixed an interested expression on my face and nodded occasionally as I allowed my mind to wander. I found my eyes straying from his face once to the window. The street was drenched in brilliant winter sunshine, and I wished that I were outside enjoying it rather than stuck in here. A group of boys wearing Hogwarts robes were walking by, talking and laughing, carrying Honeydukes bags even bigger and fuller than mine. I watched enviously for a moment. Then, with a jolt and a treacherous leap of my heart, I recognised one of them.

It was Ted Tonks. Suddenly, I was more jealous of his companions than ever.

"Andromeda, are you listening to me?"
I pulled my attention back to Lucius with difficultly. "What? Yes, of course. I agree completely."

He raised his eyebrows slightly contemptuously. "Really?"

"Of course," I said sincerely. It was all I could do to keep my gaze wandering back to the window.

He sighed irritably. "I asked if you had ever been to Germany."
"Oh, right," I said. I felt my cheeks going hot and red. "Sorry. Uh- no. I haven't."

"I was going to invite you to stay with my family there for a few days over the New Year period," he said irritably. "Mother and Father have borrowed a castle. They were going to invite the Crouches and perhaps the Crabbes. But if you don't even find me interesting enough to attend to for a single meal…"
"No," I said quickly. "I mean, no- it's not that. I am interested in you. And I'd love to go to Germany, really. It's just- uh-" I struggled to find an excuse for my distracted attention, but I was saved the trouble by the arrival of the bill. Lucius paid with much flourishing, and I was finally able to leave.