It was a dull day, the weather perfectly suiting the atmosphere at Evan Rosier's funeral. Grey clouds hung low in the sky, and a steady drizzle slowly soaked the huddle of mourners gathered around the grave. I glanced over the people standing across me and tried not to think about the rumours which surrounded almost all of them. These were people I had known all my life, and almost all of them were related to me in some way. It was hard to think of them as killers.
I had my arm around Dora, who glared fiercely ahead of her. She seemed more angry than upset, and I thought it was probably the only way that she could keep herself from crying. On the other side of her, Bella wore an almost identical expression. Dora's mother was less restrained: my mother had to support her as she sobbed desperately into a handkerchief. I could barely hear the priest over the sound of her cries.
Finally, the priest seemed to reach the end of his speech. He picked up a handful of soil. "We now commit this body to rest in the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; to rest as Merlin rests, in the sure hope of eternal life at the hands of the Almighty." He cast the soil onto the coffin lying at the bottom of the open grave, and invited the rest of the mourners to follow suit.
Still glaring, both Bella and Dora made their way to the pile of soil to do so. A few others went too: Eugene Avery, Lucius Malfoy and Rudolphus Lestrange among them. My mother managed to guide a still sobbing Mrs Rosier to the pile and moved her hands through the motion of throwing soil in. When they had done, the priest flicked his wand once and the rest of the soil fell onto the grave.
The movement seemed to waken the remainder of the mourners from a trance, and almost everyone disapparated- most of them, I assumed, going on to the Rosier's country house where a reception would be held.
My mother disapparated, taking Mrs Rosier with her. Dora hesitated for a few moments, staring at the heap of soil in front of her as if she couldn't work out what it was. I moved towards her, hoping to comfort her although I knew that there was little I could offer.
Before I reached her, though, Bella took her arm. "Come," she said. "I think it's time for you to meet someone."
"He's here?" Dora asked, her face suddenly eager. She looked more alive than she had all day.
"He'll meet us in the grounds of your house." Together, they disapparated. I glanced around to see that I was the last one left, and quickly followed suit- disapparating from the graveyard and reappearing on the driveway of the Rosier's house. I glanced around but couldn't see either Dora or Bella, so I had no choice but to follow the rest of the crowd up to the house and into the ballroom, where house elves were handing out drinks and canapés to the damp mourners.
I looked around me and felt lost. Dora and Bella were still nowhere to be seen- and nor, I noticed, was Lucius. I had known most of the people in this room since childhood, but I didn't want to speak to them now. All I wanted was a hot bath, chocolate, and perhaps a book (I hated to have to admit it, but Pride and Prejudice would have been perfect).
I was still staring around when my mother appeared as if from nowhere and took my arm. "Come, Andromeda- you can't just stand there like a dazed gnome. It's terribly unbecoming. I'm sure your Aunt Crabbe will be dying to hear about your wedding."
I let myself be steered wordlessly towards a nearby huddle of black-clad women, none of whom looked particularly upset. They all beamed at mother and I as we approached. She beamed back, and I attempted to force a smile onto my face.
"Andromeda, how you've grown!" Aunt Crabbe gushed. "Why, you're almost a woman now! And just in time for the wedding, too!"
I struggled to keep the smile fixed on my face. "Just so long as I still fit into my dress," I said, in a poor attempt at humour. I gave a forced laugh that the other women echoed.
"Yes- the food at Hogwarts can be rather heavy, can't it?" one of the other women- Veronica Bullstrode- said. "Emmaline had such trouble keeping her figure."
"Well, at least Andromeda doesn't have to worry about that," Mother replied. "She has the opposite problem." She looked at me critically.
"Have you set a day yet?" another woman asked.
"Yes, it's going to be on June the third," Mother answered. "The first Saturday after Andromeda finishes her NEWTs."
I inwardly shuddered- I hated the idea of celebrating the end of my school life by immediately tying myself to a man I didn't love. Still, I hadn't been given a choice. As they moved on to discussing the other details- the church where it would be held, dress fittings, how wonderful a couple Lucius and I would make- I let my mind drift elsewhere. Mother talked enthusiastically enough that I only had to smile and occasionally nod. My wedding was the last thing I wanted to think about.
As soon as I reasonably could, I excused myself and made my way towards the most distant bathroom I knew of. It was on the second floor, at the opposite end of the East Wing of the house. I tiptoed through a maze of corridors where I had spent much of my childhood, relieved to hear the sounds of the party fade behind me. Soon the only sounds were the ticking of various ornate clocks located around the house, and my quiet footsteps on the wooden floorboards.
When I reached the bathroom I locked the door and leant against it, before sliding down to sit on the floor with my back to the wood and my head in my hands. I had wanted to cry when I was outside, but now I found that the tears wouldn't come. Even so, I sat there as long as I felt I could without Mother sending out a search party. I unlocked the door slowly and began to make my way back towards the ballroom.
On my way back I noticed that the door to the Rosier's library had been left slightly open. I glanced up and down the corridor and then silently slipped into the room. The room was exactly as I remembered it from all the afternoons I had spent there as a child. It was small and cosy, full of the smell of old books. The walls were lined with bookshelves reaching from floor to ceiling, with small stepladders hovering to carry visitors to the high shelves. A cluster of squishy armchairs gathered around a mahogany coffee table, adding a hint of leather to the smell of the room.
I cast my eyes over the shelves. Obviously, there were no muggle romances here. The books were mostly non-fiction: encyclopaedias of magical plants and animals, biographies of famous wizards and discussions of wizarding philosophy. I was reaching out for a biography of Circe when I heard one of the floorboards outside creak. Listening carefully, I could make out low voices.
I froze. There was no way out of the library, but I didn't want anyone to know that I had been snooping and avoiding the people downstairs. Quickly, I darted to a small hole behind one of the bookshelves. I had hidden there as a child when I'd wanted to stay reading rather than have a bath or be sent to bed. Now, however, I was a lot larger. It was a struggle to squeeze in. I had just managed to fold my legs into the tiny space (one of them immediately began to cramp) when the door was pushed open and two sets of footsteps come in. The door was shut with a snap behind them.
"Bellatrix, I will not have you inducing children into the Dark Lord's sevice," someone hissed. My stomach lurched as I recognised the voice of my fiancé, and my sister's name.
"The Dark Lord is pleased," came Bella's voice. "The girl is from a good family, and she is as passionate about our cause as any- more than some, I could say."
"She's distraught, for Merlin's sake! She's lost her father and her brother- of course she wants to get her own back." The cramp in my leg was getting more and more painful.
"Both of them were good servants to the Dark Lord," Bella said. "I am sure, Lucius, that the fact she is female would not bias you against her?"
"Of course not," Lucius said. "But-"
"But you still believe that your judgement is superior to His?" she said. Her voice was soft and dangerous. By now the cramp in my leg was almost unbearable, but I didn't dare move.
"No, but-"
"Good. I trust the Dark Lord's judgement implicitly, and so should you. I fail to see the problem." And with that she left, her footsteps moving towards the door and down the corridor. I heard Lucius sigh. After a few moments, he followed her out.
I sat still for a few minutes, still huddled up behind the bookshelf. The full meaning of their words had suddenly hit me. The girl they were talking about was Dora. My cousin and best friend. But I knew that I had to be mistaken. Dora would never become a Death Eater. Then again, I'd thought the same about Bella.
I felt sick. Not knowing what else to do, I slowly unfolded myself and got up awkwardly. Both my legs had gone dead, and I rubbed them to bring back sensation and to ease the cramp. I realised that my face was wet with tears and wiped them away roughly- but more kept coming. At least at a funeral I supposed I would have a good excuse to cry. As soon as I could walk again, I set off down the corridor- presumably following the route Bella and Lucius had taken, back to the ballroom.
On reaching the gathering downstairs, I spotted Dora immediately. She was surrounded by acquaintances offering condolences: the Goyles, the Yaxleys, the Averys… I wanted to force my way through them and talk to her, just to reassure myself that she was still the Dora I knew and not a new, terrifying one who hated muggles enough to torture and kill them- but for some reason, I didn't quite dare do so. What if I was wrong?
Instead, I spotted Bella across the room and made a beeline for her. I grabbed a glass of wine from a passing house elf as I went. She was talking to two men I knew by name but had never spoken to: Dolohov and Goyle. I hadn't realised that Bella knew them especially well. She looked annoyed when she saw me, and immediately hushed her companions.
I couldn't bring myself to confront her with what I had just heard. As the three of them glared at me, I opened my mouth and gaped stupidly for a moment before stammering, "Er- hello, Bella." I nodded at Goyle and Dolohov, who nodded back but glared harder still.
"Hello," Bella said shortly. "Did you want something?"
"Er- just to ask how you've been," I said.
"I'm fine," she said.
"Good." I took a gulp of my wine. Just then, mother rushed up behind me, pulling Lucius behind her.
"Andromeda, sip- don't gulp," she hissed in my ear. "And I'm not sure you should be drinking anyway. It'll stain your teeth terribly." She pulled away, and said in a quite different tone of voice, "Lucius and I have been looking all over for you. Where have you been?"
Suddenly, I couldn't take it any more. I felt all my feelings of betrayal and loneliness turn to fury. "Actually, I doubt that," I said coldly. "I know for a fact that Lucius has been hidden away planning to indoctrinate some poor girl into the Death Eaters, and you couldn't care less about me unless you're trying to marry me off to the highest bidder." My voice rose more and more as I spoke, so that a few people nearby paused in their conversations to glance over at us.
Mother's face went pale, and for a moment she looked furious. Then she plastered a sickly look of concern onto her face. "I'm so sorry," she said to the people around us. "Evan's death has hit her very hard. She doesn't know what she's saying." She grabbed my arm in a vice-like grip. "I'd better take you home, Andromeda, before you say anything else you'll regret."
I wrenched my wrist away and took a step back. "No, I won't go. I just heard my fiancé, who I never even wanted to marry, and my sister-" I motioned towards Bella and Lucius, "-plotting to make my best friend into a criminal! She'll become a lying, murdering, torturing-" I was shouting now, and the entire room turned to watch the commotion. For most of them this would be a scandal to discuss with delight for years to come.
"That's enough!" mother screamed. She lunged at me, but I dodged backwards. I bumped into a man behind me and sent his glass of wine flying over the cream gown of Irma Crabbe. Irma screeched loudly and whipped out her wand to try and remove the stain. Mother pulled out her wand to, but she pointed it straight at me. "You'll come home right now, you stupid girl."
"No!" I shouted back. I knew I had gone to far to go back now. I had no idea how mother would punish me for this and I didn't want to know. I glanced around at the staring faces, and then turned and began to run for the parlour. I knew that there was always a full pot of Floo Powder there, perched next to a fireplace that was always lit.
"If you leave now, you're never coming back," mother shouted after me. "Never! You'll be disowned! I have no middle daughter!"
It was with her last words ringing in my ears that I reached the fireplace and desperately grabbed a handful of green powder from the pot. I hurled it into the grate and screamed "Hogwarts!" before throwing myself into the green flames.
As I began to spin faster and faster, I could still hear mother's last words echoing in my head. She had no middle daughter, and it seemed I had no longer had a family. At that moment I was too numb to fully understand, but I knew that the words would hurt in time.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and thank you especially to everyone who's reviewed so far. I really appreciate it so, so much- it makes my day every single time!