the sun, the moon, and stars between

fourteen

  the devil wears pink

August 15, 1995

  Eridanus woke up early to the sound of Andi's cursing and then Ted's screams about a fire. She rushed downstairs to see Andromeda patting out a fire on a pan and Ted panickingly throwing the aguamenti spell at Andi and the pan. That was the highlight of her morning. 

  "TED!" 

  "SORRY! SORRY!" 

  "Oh my Merlin" Eyes turned to Eri, Andromeda's drenched hair dripped on the floor as she walked towards her cousin "That was hilarious" Eridanus began laughing hard, Ted joined her, and soon everyone was laughing

  "Alright breakfast is a no, that doesn't mean we can't find something to eat around here that 'Dromeda can't burn" 

  "I'm going to go change" Andi glared at the two snickering brunets as she passed them light-heartedly. 

  Ted and Eri sat at the table discussing what Eri had read in her new favorite book, Quidditch Through The Ages. Remus and Ryder had gifted her the book on her birthday and she had taken to it very quickly, Andi came back to the kitchen with dried hair and new clothes on, she quickly got Eri together and up to her room to get dressed before their appointment with the Ministry Official in thirty minutes. 

  Eridanus dressed casually and muggle, opting for one of her band shirts and a pair of Tonk's old ripped jeans, deciding it was time to wear pants now that she was fifteen. She laced up her boots (also outgrown by Tonks) and hurried down the stairs, noticing Andi by the fireplace picking at her nails.

  "Finally! You know how to floo right?" Eri nodded and took a pinch of floo powder into her hand "Alright, I'll go first and stay by the floo and wait for you. Remember to speak clearly Eri" She nodded again and watched as Andi flooed to the Ministry of Magic 

  "Okay, you can do this, just don't pull a Harry and you'll be fine" She muttered to herself, trying to lighten her own mood from the story Harry told her about his first time flooing to Diagon Alley "MINISTRY OF MAGIC" 

  The young witch fell out of the floo with a thump, her klutzy nature present within her nervousness, two hands reached out to grasp her, she looked up into the eyes of her cousin Andromeda and jumped into her grasp 

  "That was scary" 

  "You said you've flooed before!" 

  "I may have lied" 

-

  "Woah" 

  "Yeah" 

  "Ted made it sound smaller" 

-

  Their appointment went well, Eridanus was allowed to go to school under her name and be Andromeda and Ted's ward, now the task was to find the way out of the Ministry. 

  They had told the worker that Eri was Regulus's daughter who was left in a muggle orphanage, who Andromeda tracked down and took in. The worker just nodded and cast a spell, had them sign some papers and they were in and out within fifteen minutes. 

  Now they were trying to find their way back to the floo's. 

  "We're hopeless" Eri mumbled, earning a smack on the arm from Andi 

  "We're not! Excuse me? Ma'am? Could you point us in the direction of the floo's?" Andromeda caught the attention of a short woman, only a few inches shorter than Eri, who stood at five-three, clad in all different shades of pink, and had a toad-like face. 

  "Right that way" She giggled, flashing a fake smile as she pointed in the direction of the floo's, Andi smiled politely while Eri cringed slightly, not even attempting to be polite to the woman and her creepy smile and giggles. 

  "Thank you, Miss?" 

  "Umbridge. Dolores Jane Umbridge" 

  "Andromeda Tonks, that is my cousin Eridnaus Black, thank you, Miss Umbridge" The woman eyed Eri up and down, causing the teen's instincts to tell her to run away. Her judgmental eyes were a stark contrast to her girl-like attitude and smile. 

  "Andi, Ted's waiting on us to be home by lunch we better get going" Eri's eyes begged to leave, the same eyes Sirius used to use on his father when they were in a social gathering. 

  "Oh yes, right, it was lovely meeting you Miss Umbridge but we must go now" Andi dragged Eri off quickly and checked her over for curses, hexes, and jinxes "Are you alright Eri?" 

  "Something was off about her like she knew we lied to that man" Andi nodded and decided that they should floo home together. The pair held one another close as the fire engulfed them. 

-

Ted listened intently as Andi recounted the day, Eri opted to sit silently as she thought about the woman in pink. 

  "And then we ran into Dolores Umbridge, Eri had the oddest feeling about her, said the seemed like she knew we lied to the man at the wards office." He nodded as Eri thought more, maybe she was a legilimens? That couldn't be it, Andi would have noticed. The Ravenclaw thought through all of the possibilities, even the most outrageous one but none seemed to fit. 

  "Eri? Eri!" 

  "What?" 

  "Ted's been calling for you for the last three minutes, are you alright?" Andi put her hand on Eri's shoulder and squeezed, both adults seemed concerned with the way she was acting 

  "Oh yeah, I'm fine, just thinking. Always thinking" Eri gave them both a smile and nodded "What were you asking?" She looked at Ted 

  "I was wondering what time Ryder would be here tomorrow? So I can put safety wards around for you two" 

  "Probably after lunch, that's when we usually hang out if I'm not dragging his butt out of bed" Ted nodded and passed her a sandwich. They sat in silence as time passed. Ted eventually went to work on something for work, Andi had to visit a patient at their home, and Eri left the house after changing and ran to the property line to think.

  The only thing she would be sure of after this though, was that the devil wears pink.