Blackbird

Chapter 20

If she hadn't been staring at Narcissa, she might have managed to avoid him.

How had it taken her this long to discover the truth about her sister? Narcissa was deadly quiet, barely even listening to her friends chattering around her. She scarcely ate, rather mindlessly twirling her food around her plate. Her shoulders were hunched over as she stared at the plate with such an intensity, it was as though she expected it to open up and start speaking to her. Every now and then she would glance down the row where Rodolphus was sitting with the other seventh year Slytherins. He never returned her glance, never even acknowledged her stares.

For whatever reason, the two of them had decided to keep their relationship a secret. This must have been the secret Narcissa was afraid of Bellatrix discovering. That was why she had run from the Great Hall the other day. Andromeda didn't understand this though. It wasn't as if there was anything wrong with dating Rodolphus. He was not only from a respectable pure-blood family; he was from a rich, influential, pure-blood family. And not all marriages were arranged, sometimes they were allowed to choose. And Bellatrix had her own boyfriend. Granted, Rodolphus was a bit older, but three years wasn't anything strange...

"Hello, Andromeda."

She whirled around so fast she gave herself whiplash. Rabastan was standing behind her, a crooked smile on his face.

He turned to Magdalena, one of her fellow sixth year roommates. "Would you mind scooting down a little?"

Magdalena opened her mouth as though she were going to say something, but then she merely nodded and shifted down the row without question. Magdalena had always been a quieter person, which was part of the reason why Andromeda liked her.

Except she wished, in this instance, Magdalena had resisted.

"Is it alright if I sit next to you?" Rabastan purred.

"I—"Andromeda knew she was supposed to say yes, but the thought absolutely terrified her. "Well—"

"You know, we're going to be married someday, so we might as well get used to eating meals together." His voice was as warm and polite as ever, but there was a hard edge in it she hadn't heard before, and the smile seemed to falter ever so slightly from his lips.

She glanced hurriedly down at her plate. "Right." She cleared her throat, matching his polite tone. "Of course you may sit here."

He did, in one fluid motion, and suddenly he was uncomfortably close. She gulped, but remained fixed on her plate in front of her.

He was silent for a moment, then he asked, "How are you?"

"Fine," she squeaked, then bit down her tongue, but it was too late to do any good. She could kick herself for sounding so weak and pathetic.

Rabastan hesitated before saying, "Is that really all you have been? Fine?" His hand inched toward her wrist, gently taking her hand in his.

It was like her entire body froze, for one moment, and then came rushing back in a frenzy. She pulled her wrist out of his grip and stood up.

"I'm sorry, I— I have a lot of homework to do so, I need to get to the library before classes start." And then she turned and fled without waiting to see how Rabastan responded. She barely noticed anyone as she exited the great hall. She barely paid attention to where she was going, turning down random corridors and heading up random staircases. She just needed some space. Rabastan's touch had been too much. It made her feel cold, laden down. Perhaps it was the guilt, of knowing while he was trying to make this relationship work she was running around with another man. It was better just to avoid him, so she could avoid the feelings of—