galaxies [andromeda black ♔ 1] | ⚐

9; the owlery

DECEMBER, 1970

Andromeda smiled and shook her head at Yasmin Mikhail, who had just passed her the sheet to sign up to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. Every year, she was forced to come home to spend the holiday with her family, who claimed that being around Mudbloods for too long might taint their education. She longed to stay at Hogwarts, drinking hot chocolate near the fire and sharing a Christmas meal with Professor Dumbledore. She knew this year was going to be especially terrible — Druella Black had invited Rodolphus, Elijah, and Lucius to stay at the manor and spend a part of the holidays as a family, right after the Christmas party at the Malfoy manor. She was dreading to see Rodolphus and Bellatrix again, who kept trying to lure Elijah and her to drop out of school and join something called the Death Eaters. Andromeda had deeply offended them when she laughed in their faces, thinking it was a joke. But Rodolphus replied with a sinister chuckle, saying that her time would come.

She wasn't quite sure what that meant — whatever the Death Eaters were, they kept their operations under wraps. All she knew was that every time she saw Rodolphus and Bellatrix, the darkness in their eyes grew, and she saw less and less of that light in her sister's eyes that lit up her face when they were younger.

She looked down at her half-eaten toast, and to the letter lying next to her. Her sleek dark gray Arabian scops-owl, Nyx, had dropped it into her cereal this morning. It was from her mother.

Meet Emmy right outside of the Hogwarts grounds once the last bell rings for her to Apparate you back home. If she's late, deliver the proper punishment immediately. Do not even try to sneak into the Great Hall for dinner.

Andromeda bit her lip. Emmy was their house-elf, and Druella felt the need to punish her every time anything went wrong. Andromeda often tried to comfort her, but Emmy usually ran away from her, believing it was a trap. She had picked up the sisters every year, as the Black family felt they were too dignified to share a train with the rest of the school. Thankfully, her Prefect duties were usually excused during this time.

Do not even try to sneak into the Great Hall for dinner... Andromeda flinched painfully at the memory the last sentence brought on. In her third year, Narcissa and had caved in to the temptation of the end-of-term dinner, and had stuffed their mouths before hurrying back to meet Emmy. Unfortunately, it had ended badly for the both of them. Druella noticed that they had eaten, and punished them both with the Cruciatus curse for being ungrateful imps.

In a sudden bout of anger, Andromeda shredded the letter to pieces. Elijah, who was sitting across from her, raised his eyebrow.

"That time of the month already?" Andromeda narrowed his eyes at him, and he chuckled dryly. "Fine... not an appropriate joke, I get it. Just out of curiosity, is your delightful mother going to make us share a bed?" She raised her eyes to the clear blue ceiling, exasperated.

"Yes, Elijah, she will. Don't worry about it, though, I can sleep on the floor." He smirked, satisfied with her answer.

"Well I personally can't wait to take my Apparation exam, I know I'll pass it on the first try..." Lucius drawled as he and Narcissa approached the Slytherin table. Andromeda quickly stood up, hoping to avoid having to listen to Lucius talk about himself yet again. "... I can't believe you have to touch your house-elf, that's disgusting..." Andromeda refrained from rolling her eyes and scowling at him.

"Hi, Romy," Narcissa nodded to Andromeda, still using the nickname that she had when she was younger. "Don't be late this afternoon." Andromeda opened her mouth to retort, but before she could, she made eye contact with Callisto.

"Don't worry about me. I have a free period last so I'll have plenty of time." Andromeda sat down roughly again, trying not to blush under Callisto's gaze. She grabbed her toast and started analyzing it feverishly. Narcissa looked at her strangely and took a seat next to Elijah. Lucius sat down next to her, putting his arm around her waist protectively. There was a brief pause.